Learning About Grief Triggers Through an Exploratory-Descriptive Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33423/jop.v24i2.7078Keywords:
organizational psychology, grief, grief triggers, bereavement, mourning, death, dyingAbstract
A qualitative study was undertaken to identify what triggers grief in the first two years following the death of a beloved family member, determine how often triggered grief occurs, and gain lived insight into what can be done (if anything) to manage triggers and also triggered grief. Four themes highlighting an uncertain process associated with grief triggers were identified: (a) my whole life was grief, (b) frequently hit by “hard-grief” triggers, (c) reaching a balance with grief and grief triggers to absorb the losses and reshape life, and (d) shifting to good and welcome memories, triggers that keep the person alive. These themes are described, with quotes illustrating their relevance for advising bereaved people about the grief triggers they may encounter. This evidence adds to a limited body of evidence on grief triggers and offers new insights for developments in grief theory and bereavement programs or services.
References
Althubaiti, A. (2016). Information bias in health research: Definition, pitfalls, and adjustment methods. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare, 9, 211–217. https://doi.org/10.2147/JMDH.S104807
Bateson, K., Lees, J., Proctor, G., & Shloim, N. (2020). Fear of losing it: An auto-ethnographic case study exploring re-triggered loss experiences during psychotherapy training. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 49(5), 689–700. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2020.1772461
Birt, L., Scott, S., Cavers, D., Campbell, C., & Walter, F. (2016). Member checking: A tool to enhance trustworthiness or merely a nod to validation? Qualitative Health Research, 26(13), 1802–1811. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732316654870
Boddez, Y. (2018). The presence of your absence: A conditioning theory of grief. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 106, 18–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2018.04.006
Breen, L.J., & O’Connor, M. (2011). Family and social networks after bereavement: Experiences of support, change, and isolation. Journal of Family Therapy, 33(1), 98–120. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6427.2010.00495.x
Breen, L.J., O’Connor, M. (2007). The fundamental paradox in the grief literature: A critical reflection. Omega (Westport), 55(3), 199–218. https://doi.org/10.2190/OM.55.3.c
Carr, D., Sonnega, J., Nesse, R.M., & House, J.S. (2014). Do special occasions trigger psychological distress among older bereaved spouses? An empirical assessment of clinical wisdom. The Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 69(1), 113–122. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbt061
Coelho, A., Roberto, M., Barros, L., & Barbosa, A. (2022). Family caregiver grief and post-loss adjustment: A longitudinal cohort study. Palliative & Supportive Care, 20(3), 348–356. https://doi.org/10.1017/S147895152100095X
Cohen, J.A., & Mannarino, A.P. (2011). Supporting children with traumatic grief: What educators need to know. School Psychology International, 32(2), 117–131. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034311400827
Durst, N. (2003). Child-survivors of the Holocaust: Age-specific traumatization and the consequences for therapy. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 57(4), 499–518. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.2003.57.4.499
Field, N.P., & Filanosky, C. (2010). Continuing bonds, risk factors for complicated grief, and adjustment to bereavement. Death Studies, 34(1), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481180903372269
Field, N.P., Gao, B., & Paderna, L. (2005). Continuing bonds in bereavement: An attachment theory based perspective. Death Studies, 29(4), 277–299. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481180590923689
Hansen, D.M., Sheehan, D.K., Stephenson, P.S., & Mayo, M.M. (2016). Parental relationships beyond the grave: Adolescents’ descriptions of continued bonds. Palliative & Supportive Care, 14(4), 358–63. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478951515001078
Hinton, D.E., Peou, S., Joshi, S., Nickerson, A., & Simon, N.M. (2013). Normal grief and complicated bereavement among traumatized Cambodian refugees: Cultural context and the central role of dreams of the dead. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 37(3), 427–464. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-013-9324-0
Ho, S.M.Y., Chan, I.S.F., Ma, E.P.W., & Field, N.P. (2013). Continuing bonds, attachment style, and adjustment in the conjugal bereavement among Hong Kong Chinese. Death Studies, 37(3), 248–268. https://doi-org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/10.1080/07481187.2011.634086
Irish Hospice Foundation. (n.d.). Grieving the death of someone close. Retrieved from https://hospicefoundation.ie/bereavement-2-2/coping-with-loss/grieving-the-death-of-someone-close/
Kinzie, J.D. (2001). Psychotherapy for massively traumatized refugees: The therapist variable. The American Journal of Psychotherapy, 55(4), 475–490. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.2001
Klass, D., Silverman, P.R., & Nickman, S.L. (Eds.). (1996). Continuing bonds: New understandings of grief. Taylor & Francis.
Kübler-Ross, E. (1969). On death and dying. Routledge.
Maguire, M., Light, A., Kuppermann, M., Dalton, V.K., Steinauer, J.E., & Kerns, J.L. (2015). Grief after second-trimester termination for fetal anomaly: A qualitative study. Contraception, 91(3), 234–239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2014.11.015
Meyer-Lee, C.B., Jackson, J.B., & Gutierrez, N.S. (2020). Long-term experiencing of parental death during childhood: A qualitative analysis. The Family Journal, 28(3), 247–256. https://doi.org/10.1177/1066480720926582
Moayedoddin, B., & Markowitz, J.C. (2015). Abnormal grief: Should we consider a more patient-centered approach? American Journal of Psychotherapy, 69(4), 361–378. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.2015.69.4.361
Nielsen, M.K., Carlsen, A.H., Neergaard, M.A., Bidstrup, P.E., & Guldin, M.B. (2019). Looking beyond the mean in grief trajectories: A prospective, population-based cohort study. Social Science & Medicine, 232, 460–469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.10.007
Saunders, B., Sim, J., Kingstone, T., Baker, S., Waterfield, J., Bartlam, B., . . . Jinks, C. (2018). Saturation in qualitative research: Exploring its conceptualization and operationalization. Quality & Quantity, 52(4), 1893–1907. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-017-0574-8
Setubal, M.S., Bolibio, R., Jesus, R.C., Benute, G.G., Gibelli, M.A., Bertolassi, N., . . . Stein Bernardes, L. (2021). A systematic review of instruments measuring grief after perinatal loss and factors associated with grief reactions. Palliative & Supportive Care, 19(2), 246–256. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478951520000826
Smith, K.V., Rankin, H., & Ehlers, A. (2020). A qualitative analysis of loss-related memories after cancer loss: A comparison of bereaved people with and without prolonged grief disorder. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 11(1), 1789325. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2020.1789325
Statistics Canada. (2021). Provisional death counts and excess mortality, January to December 2020. Retrieved from https://www150statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/210310/dq21030c-eng.html
The Loss Foundation. (n.d.). Grief comes in waves. Retrieved from https://thelossfoundation.org/grief-comes-in-waves/
Thorne, S., Kirkham, S.R., & O’Flynn-Magee, K. (2004). The analytic challenge in interpretive description. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 3(1), 1–11. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690400300101
Waldrop, D.P. (2007). Caregiver grief in terminal illness and bereavement: A mixed-methods study. Health & Social Work, 32(3), 197–206. https://doi.org/10.1093/hsw/32.3.197
Wilson, D.M., & Hewitt, J.A. (2018b). A scoping research literature review to assess the state of existing evidence on the “bad” death. Palliative & Supportive Care, 16(1), 90–106. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1478951517000530
Wilson, D.M., Anafi, F., Roh, S., & Errasti-Ibarrondo, B. (2021a). A scoping research literature review to identify contemporary evidence on the incidence, causes, and impacts of end-of-life intra-family conflict. Health Communication, 36(13), 1616–1622. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.20
Wilson, D.M., Cohen, J., Deliens, L., MacLeod, R., Hewitt, J.A., & Houttekier, D. (2019). Is the bereavement grief intensity of survivors linked with their perception of death quality? A pilot study. International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 25(8), 398–405. https://doi.org/10.12968/ijpn.2019.25.8.398
Wilson, D.M., Cohen, J., MacLeod, R., & Houttekier, D. (2018a). Bereavement grief: A population-based foundational evidence study. Death Studies, 42(7), 463–469. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2017.1382609
Wilson, D.M., Darko, E., Kusi-Appiah, E., Roh, S., Ramic, A., & Errasti-Ibarrondo, B. (2020). What exactly is complicated grief? A scoping research literature review to determine how common it is, and understand who is at risk of it. Omega – Journal of Death and Dying. https://doi.org/10.1177/0030222820977305
Wilson, D.M., Underwood, L., & Errasti-Ibarrondo, B. (2021b). A scoping research literature review to map the evidence on grief triggers. Social Science & Medicine, 282, 114109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114109
Yu, W., He, L., Xu, W., Wang, J., & Prigerson, H.G. (2016). Continuing bonds and bereavement adjustment among bereaved mainland Chinese. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 204(10), 758–763. https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000000550
Zordan, R.D., Bell, M.L., Price, M., Remedios, C., Lobb, E., Hall, C., & Hudson, P. (2019). Long-term prevalence and predictors of prolonged grief disorder amongst bereaved cancer caregivers: A cohort study. Palliative & Supportive Care, 17(5), 507–514. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478951518001013