The End of All Tears: A Dynamic Interdisciplinary Analysis of Mourning and Complicated Grief With Suggested Applications for Clinicians

Abstract

Mourning is a normal, universal response to death with countless cultural elaborations worldwide. When individuals are unable to progress through normal mourning, complicated grief (CG) can be a result. Ways in which humans deal with the universal consequences of death are examined and compared to the typical modern setting found in first world nations. It is suggested that normal mourning is facilitated by various ritual acts and if these activities lack certain features (suggested by cross-cultural analysis of mourning rituals), an increased risk of CG may result. Examination of rituals furthermore suggests ways clinicians may help patients cope with loss.

KEYWORDS:

• complicated grief
• cross-cultural
• death
• psychiatric treatment
• rite of passage