A REVIEW OF DEATH AND MOURNING IN CHILDREN

Yıl 2017, Cilt: 20 Sayı: 52 (15-12-2017), 131 - 140, 15.12.2017

Emre Ürer

https://doi.org/10.15745/da.363801

Cited By: 9

Öz

Mourning is the process of thought, emotion, and behavior that includes the whole of the reactions of a person to the loss of a close relative or a loved object. For the health of Psyche, the mourning period must be healthy, that is, conflicts must be resolved, but it will be possible to separate from the person or object that has been lost.

In the past, it was assumed that children did not show mourning. As far as we know, we can find similar behaviors in the mourning reaction even in the infancy, especially when the caregiver suffers from loss. Over time, the concepts of death and disappearance are in the child, and as the abstract perception develops, it can be said of the adult type mourning reaction.

Children give a wide variety of reactions to death or loss. These reactions may be similar to those of adults, as well as giving them playfulness, pretending to be "not in place". Although the child gives them this reaction, it can not be said that the inner world has suffered the pain and sorrow.

There are factors complicating mourning in children as well as in adults. These include a wide variety of causes, such as the loss of the person or object, the adequacy of the psychosocial support system after the loss. When the mourning process is complicated or when there are shortcomings in the family support systems, support from child mental health professionals should be requested.

In this article we discussed the mourning reactions of children who have suffered death or object loss after explaining the meaning of grief and bereavement and the factors that complicate these grief reactions. We aimed to give information about how to approach the child who is experiencing death or loss of object.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Death, Mourning, The death concept in children, Mourn in children, complicated mourning

ÇOCUKLARDA ÖLÜM VE YAS ÜZERİNE BİR İNCELEME

Öz

Yas, kişinin bir yakınının ya da sevdiği bir nesnenin kaybına karşı verdiği tepkilerin bütününü içeren düşünce, duygu ve davranış sürecidir. Çocuklarda yas reaksiyonlarının görülüş şekli yaştan ya da çocuğun bilişsel gelişim kapasitesinden bağımsız düşünülemez. Çocukta zamanla ölüm, kayıp kavramları oturmakta, soyut algı geliştikçe de erişkin tipi yas reaksiyonundan söz edilebilmektedir. Çocuklar ölüm ya da kayıp karşısında çok çeşitli tepkiler verir. Erişkinlerde olduğu gibi çocuklarda da yas sürecini komplike eden faktörler bulunmaktadır. Bu faktörler arasında kişi ya da nesnenin kaybediliş şeklinden, kayıp sonrasındaki psikososyal destek sistemlerinin yeterliliği gibi çok çeşitli nedenler sayılabilir. Hayatta kalan ebeveyn ya da bakım verenin yas sürecini sağlıklı geçirmesi çocuğun yas sürecini de doğrudan etkileyecektir. Yas süreci komplike olduğunda ya da aile içi destek sistemlerinde eksiklikler hissedildiğinde, bu konuda çocuk ruh sağlığı profesyonellerinden destek istenmelidir. Bu yazıda çocuklardaki yas kavramını ve ölüm ya da nesne kaybıyla karşılaşan çocuğa nasıl yaklaşılması gerektiği konusunda bilgiler vermeyi amaçladık.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Ölüm, Yas, Çocuklarda ölüm kavramı, Çocuklarda yas, komplike

Kaynakça

• Allumbaugh, D. L., & Hoyt, W. T. (1999). Effectiveness of grief therapy: A meta-analysis. In: American Psychological Association.
• Bildik, T. (2013). Ölüm, kayıp, yas ve patolojik yas. Ege Tıp Dergisi, 52(4).
• Black, D. (1998). Coping with loss: Bereavement in childhood. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 316(7135), 931.
• Bowlby, J. (2008). Attachment: Basic books.
• Cook, A. S., & Dworkin, D. S. (1992). Helping the bereaved: Therapeutic interventions for children, adolescents, and adults: Basic Books (AZ).
• Demaso, D. R., Meyer, E. C., Beasley, P. J., Jellinek, M. S., & Biederman, J. (1997). What do I say to my surviving children? Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 36(9), 1299-1302.
• Diler, R. S., & Avci, A. (1997). Çocuk ve Yas: Bir Gözden Geçirme.
• Dowdney, L. (2000). Annotation: Childhood bereavement following parental death. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 41(7), 819-830.
• Dyregrov, A., & Dyregrov, K. (2013). Complicated grief in children—the perspectives of experienced professionals. OMEGA-Journal of Death and Dying, 67(3), 291-303.
• Fitzgerald, H. (2013). The grieving child: A parent's guide: Simon and Schuster.
• Freud, S. (1917). Mourning and melancholia. Standard edition of the works of Sigmund Freud, 14. In: London.
• Kaufman, K. R., & Kaufman, N. D. (2005). Childhood mourning: Prospective case analysis of multiple losses. Death studies, 29(3), 237-249.
• Kübler-Ross, E., & Kessler, D. (2014). On grief and grieving: Finding the meaning of grief through the five stages of loss: Simon and Schuster.
• Lewis, M., & Schonfeld, D. (2002). Dying and death in childhood and adolescence. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: A Comprehensive Textbook. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 1239-1245.
• Mahler, M. S. (1965). On the significance of the normal separation-individuation phase: With reference to research in symbiotic child psychosis.
• Melhem, N. M., Porta, G., Shamseddeen, W., Payne, M. W., & Brent, D. A. (2011). Grief in children and adolescents bereaved by sudden parental death. Archives of general psychiatry, 68(9), 911-919.
• O'Halloran, C. M., & Altmaier, E. M. (1996). Awareness of Death Among Children: Does a Life‐Threatening Illness Alter the Process of Discovery? Journal of Counseling & Development, 74(3), 259-262.
• Raphael, B., & Martinek, N. (1997). Assessing traumatic bereavement and posttraumatic stress disorder.
• Schmiege, S. J., Khoo, S. T., Sandler, I. N., Ayers, T. S., & Wolchik, S. A. (2006). Symptoms of internalizing and externalizing problems: Modeling recovery curves after the death of a parent. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 31(6), 152-160.
• Slaughter, V. (2005). Young children's understanding of death. Australian psychologist, 40(3), 179-186.
• Smith, J. H. (1975). On the work of mourning. Bereavement: Its Psychological Aspects, 18-25.
• Tähkä, V. (1984). Dealing with object loss. The Scandinavian Psychoanalytic Review, 7(1), 13-33.
• Willis, C. A. (2002). The grieving process in children: Strategies for understanding, educating, and reconciling children's perceptions of death. Early childhood education journal, 29(4), 221-226.
• Worden, J. W. (2008). Grief counseling and grief therapy: A handbook for the mental health practitioner: Springer Publishing Company.