Life changes constantly and people often cope with its cheerful and stressful events. Various people respond differently to diverse life situations and stressors. The majority of people experience distress after loss or after facing traumatic events and they can largely benefit from professional counselling and therapy. Recovery from distress and trauma is short-lived in some people, while in others grief and distress persist for long periods. Personality, social, and emotional support are some of the reasons why people respond differently in the face of distress. In most cases, the treatment one receives from those around and those they talk to greatly determines how they respond to stressful situations. Therefore, the essay analyses possible group responses and their impact on the lives of sick, bereaved, or imprisoned individuals.
Researchers agree that speaking one’s thoughts and feelings aid people in grief to go through the experiences successfully. Friends and families of grieving individuals should encourage them to speak their minds and be willing to listen whenever approached with talks of distress and pain (McDaniel, Campbell & Hepworth 2005). As a result, distressed friends can receive emotional support and comfort when allowed to cry and share without feeling scolded. Mandelstam (2005) explains that a supportive and caring atmosphere aids fast recovery from grief. Moreover, the people, who have experienced grief before should be at the forefront in sharing what they went through and what they did to overcome.
Seeing others, who have gone through a similar experience, gives the one grieving hope of also overcoming the experience. According to Vargas and Bloom (2009), one of the negative effects of seeking group support is that listening to other stories of loss and grief may add stress to an individual, and thus, lead to prolonged grieving. Moreover, in order for a support group to cater fotoll the needs of those present, members should go through all the stages of grief together to reduce the repetition of grief-related stories, which are traumatizing.
George experienced the normal feelings of people whose loved ones are going through life-threatening illnesses. Mrs. Garry pitied her son because she knew she was soon going to die and she had not informed him fearing not to upset him. Should she have called and informed her son about her illness as soon as she had discovered it, George would have made time to be with his mother and researched to know about the illness. Knowing about the illness and spending time with his mother would have prepared him for her death.
The staff at the hospital should have a program for the loved ones of those with terminal illnesses. Loved ones should be enlightened on what to expect as the illness progresses. Sharoff (2004) explains that lessons on how to treat a dying loved one and how to handle death are instrumental to those close to the victim. All the loved ones of sick individuals should constitute support groups, learn about these illnesses, and offer support to each other (Gennari 2010). George was able to bear his mother’s death in stride because he received support from the hospital support group and carried out her wishes with the help of the supportive care group.
After death has occurred, those left behind should strive to carry on with life. In the event that the deceased left some wishes, loved ones should execute them in order to appease their consciences. The least neighbours and members of the community should do to make it easy for the loved ones left behind is to offer support and help. Therefore, group responses are very important in positively helping those individuals, who are bereaved, imprisoned, or suffering from terminal sicknesses.
References
Gennari, C 2010, Close Relationships, and Community Psychology: An International Perspective. Ediz Multilingue, Francoangeli, Milan.
Mandelstam, M 2005, Community Care Practice and the Law, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London.
McDaniel, S, Campbell, T &Hepworth, J 2005, Family-oriented primary care, Springer, New York.
Sharoff, K 2004, Coping Skills Therapy for Managing Chronic and Terminal Illness, Springer Publishing Company, New York.
Vargas, L & Bloom, S 2009, Loss, Hurt, and Hope: The Complex Issues of Bereavement and Trauma in Children, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, New York.