Reality and regret
Viewing or not viewing the body after a sudden death
Abstract
ABSTRACTThis paper reports on some early results from an ongoing study exploring the experience of dose relatives of either seeing or not seeing a loved one's body after a sudden and unexpected death, and how this affected them 6–10 months later. The findings are discussed in the context of the author's clinical knowledge and experience gained facilitating choices about viewing for families after a sudden bereavement, in a large forensic mortuary in Sydney.
References
American Psychiatric Association. 1994. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, , 4th edn. Washington DC, USA: American Psychiatric Association.
Awooner-Renner, S. 1991. I desperately needed to see my son.. British Medical Journal, 302: 356
Dix, P. 1998. Access to the dead: the role of relatives in the aftermath of disaster.. The Lancet, 352(9133): 1061–1062.
Hodgkinson, P E, Joseph, S, Yule, W and Williams, R. 1993. Viewing human remains following a disaster: helpful or harmful?. Medicine, Science and the Law, 33(3): 197–202.
Hodgkinson, P. 1995. Viewing the bodies following disaster: does it help?. Bereavement Care, 14(1): 2–4.
Hogan, N, Greenfield, D B and Schmidt, L A. 2001. Developmental validation of the Hogan Grief Reaction checklist.. Death Studies, 25: 26–31.
Hughes, P, Turton, P, Hopper, E and Evans, C DH. 2002. Assessment of guidelines for good practice in psychosocial care of mothers after stillbirth: a cohort study.. Lancet, 360(9327): 114–118.
Kristjlanson, L, Lobb, E, Aoun, S and Monterosso, L. 2006. A systematic review of the literature on complicated grief www.health.gov.au/palliativecare
Marmer, C R and Weiss, D S. 1997. “The impact of event scale—revised.”. In Assessing Psychological Trauma and PTSD. Edited by: Wilson, J P and Keane, T M. 399–411. New York: Guilford Press.
McKissock, M and McKissock, D. 2003. Coping with Grief (3rd edn). Sydney, Australia: ABC Books..
Paul, R. 2002. “Viewing the body and grief complications.”. In The Role of Visual Confirmation in Grief ReconciUation in Complicated Grief and Bereavement. Edited by: Cox, G, Bendikson, R and Stevenson, R. 255–274. Amityville, New York: Baywood.
Prigerson, H, Shear, M KJacobs, S C. 1999. Consensus criteria for traumatic grief: A preliminary empirical test. British Journal of Psychiatry, 174: 67–73.
Prigerson, H, Kasl, S and Jacobs, S. 2001. “Inventory of traumatic grief (ICG-R).”. In Handbook of Bereavement Research: Consequences, Coping and Care. Edited by: Stroebe, M, Hansson, R, Stroebe, W and Schut, H. 638–645. Washington, DC: USA: American Psychological Association.
Rando, T. 1986. Parental Loss of a Child. Illinois, USA: Research Press..
Raphael, B. 1984. The Anatomy of Bereavement. London: Routledge..
Singh, B and Raphael, B. 1981. Postdisaster morbidity of the bereaved: A possible role for preventative psychiatry?. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 169(4): 203–212.
Stewart, A E. 1999. Complicated bereavement and posttraumatic stress disorder following fatal car crashes: Recommendations for death notification practice.. Death Studies, 23: 289–321.
Worden, W. 1991. Grief Counselling and Grief Therapy: A Handbook for the Mental Health Practitioner. New York: Springer.
