Everybody dies, so why don’t we talk about it: Helping a grieving library colleague

Abstract

Research shows that grief affects the body and brain in many ways, from changes in memory, behavior, body function, and immune system. Grief also takes different forms. Grief is an individualistic journey, yet we tend to judge others based on our personal experiences, rather than taking a wholistic, therapeutic approach. This paper explains how our brain, behaviors, and emotions are all engaged during bereavement, and how to best help grieving colleagues and subordinates. This paper demystifies the concept of grief and provides practical advice for working with a grieving employee or colleague, specific to the library setting.

Keywords:

• Death
• grief
• library administration
• library staff
• personal relationships
• quality of worklife
• social capital

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).