Types of Loss Material loss loss of physical

Types of Loss Material loss: loss of physical object or surroundings Relationship loss : end of opportunities to relate Functional loss: loss of muscular or neurological function Role loss: loss of specific social role or identity Intrapsychic loss: loss of what might have been Systemic loss: disturbance of social system

Reactions to Loss • • • Denial, shock Anger and guilt Sadness and depression Reconciliation and acceptance Reattachment

Shock/Denial Associated with feelings of numbness, disbelief, disorientation, sleeplessness, searching. Anger/Guilt Associated with restlessness or over activity alternating with apathy, fury, blaming self & others, reproach, recrimination, fantasies of violence and retaliation. Ambivalence/mood swings.

Sadness/depression Associated with exhaustion, poor general health, diminution of senses, failure to care for self, weeping regression, loss of confidence. Acceptance/reconciliation Return of energy & senses, realism good & bad of lost person or experience Occasional good days, jokes; feeling of coming back to life

Reattachment Feeling of ‘coming back’ to oneself, ability to join others, renewal of energy and identity; able to take initiative

Factors affecting responses to loss • Individual resilience • Level and quality of support from others • Previous experience of managing losses well • The meaning or sense made of the loss • Number of previous experiences of loss