Sorrow and Solace: Neglected Areas in Bereavement Research

Abstract

The author argues that in its focus on finding positive outcomes, bereavement research has neglected or denigrated central phenomena in intense and long-term grief: sorrow and solace. Sorrow has two elements: yearning for the dead person and grief's depression. Consolation comes into sorrow in human relationships and from inner resources. The article notes that grief's depression can be, as William James said, the “openers of our eyes to the deepest levels of truth.” The author argues that our research would be more complete were we to include solace that comes into sorrow as one of the outcomes we can help foster.