Bereavement

Bereavement is the state of having suffered a loss. To be bereaved means to have the personal experience of loss. Customarily, the term bereavement is used in reference to death loss yet by definition is not exclusive to that, because as explained below, non-death losses give rise to bereavement as well. For this reason, any particular trauma (e.g., a sexual assault, being caught in a natural disaster, or a serious car accident) can leave a survivor with loss(es) of control, predictability, meaning, security, trust, invulnerability, or safety, to name only some possible ones. While discussion in this entry is largely restricted to bereavement through death of a loved one, the points made below can be extrapolated to nondeath bereavements.

Interestingly, the words bereave and rob each derive from the same root. Both imply an unwilling deprivation by force, having something withheld unjustly and injuriously, a stealing away of something valuable—all of which leaves the individual feeling victimized. This concept of victimization explains in part why many of a bereaved person's acute grief reactions entail traumatic stress responses, such as anxiety, anger, vulnerability, insecurity, emotional numbness, avoidance of things associated with the death, intrusive thoughts or images, social withdrawal, hyperarousal, and physical complaints, among numerous others. It lends further credence for why acute grief can legitimately be considered a form of traumatic stress reaction.

Because loss gives rise to the state of bereavement and stimulates grief and mourning, bereavement is expected to involve grief and mourning for the affected person (hereinafter referred to as the mourner). Correspondingly, since trauma inherently involves loss, and bereavement refers to having suffered loss, trauma and bereavement are intimately related.

In this entry, bereavement is defined and analyzed according to its association with trauma, the types of loss giving rise to it, and the factors making it idiosyncratic. Next, bereavement is addressed as a major trigger for and precipitant of problems, which helps render it such a monumental stressor. Finally, two categories of death-related bereavement are outlined, and there is a brief discussion of traumatic bereavement.