Losing a loved one suddenly can be an incredibly difficult experience and can impact a person's mental health and overall well-being. For social workers, it's important to understand how to support clients who have experienced unexpected death.
Understanding the Impact of Unexpected Death
When someone experiences an unexpected death, they may feel a range of emotions, including grief, sadness, and trauma. Pre-existing mental health conditions (e.g., depression, PTSD) can compound these emotions.
It's important to recognize that everyone grieves differently, and grief can be influenced by factors such as cultural background, personal experiences, and history of loss and grief (Nelson-Becker, 2018).
A grieving person may experience a sense of disconnection from their social support system and their reality. It's important to recognize these symptoms and provide support and resources to help clients navigate their emotions.
COVID-19 and Collective Mourning
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on grief and loss. As of May 10, 2023, there have been 765,903,278 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6,927,378 deaths (WHO, 2023).
The pandemic has given people two types of grief: ongoing and sudden. Ongoing grief can lead to overwhelm and burnout for caregivers, while sudden grief can lead to distress or impairment in functioning.
Prolonged Grief Disorder
Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) was added to the DSM in 2022. The criteria include people who continue to grieve longer than one year after a loss, with intense yearning, sorrow, and emotional pain.
Signs of PGD include a sense of disbelief about the death, difficulties moving on with socializing with friends and planning for the future, emotional numbness, and extreme loneliness (DSM 5-TR, 2022)
The Role of Social Workers in Treating Clients with Unexpected Death
The impact of an unexpected death can leave a person feeling disempowered, vulnerable, and inadequate.
Ambiguous loss, where a person may be physically or psychologically absent, can further complicate the grieving process (Boss, 2007). An example of ambiguous loss is when a loved one is away on active duty, or when a family member is diagnosed with dementia.
Social workers and mental health professionals can provide coping skills, navigate complex emotions, and help clients continue bonds and legacy with the deceased person. Observing for signs of prolonged grief disorder and encouraging self-care is also important in providing support.
Social workers can ensure that clients receive referrals to agencies that can assist with care and other arrangements. By providing compassionate and empathetic support, social workers can help clients cope with the complexities of grief and loss.
Managing an unexpected or sudden death can take a significant toll on a person’s mental health and well-being. Social workers and mental health professionals can provide compassionate and empathetic support to help clients navigate the complexities of grief and loss. By recognizing the signs of prolonged grief disorder and encouraging self-care, social workers can help clients move toward healing and recovery.
Resources
Learn more about this important topic with Continued Social Work: When We Can’t Say Goodbye: Coping with Sudden or Unexpected Death with Holly Nelson-Becker, PhD, MSW, LCSW, ACSW
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787
Boss, P. (2007). Ambiguous loss theory: Challenges for scholars and practitioners. Family Relations, 56(2), 105-111. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2007.00444.x
Nelson-Becker, H., & Sangster, K. (2018). Recapturing the power of ritual to enhance community in aging. Journal of Religion, Spirituality, and Aging, 31(2), 153-167. https://doi.org/10.1080/15528030.2018.1532858
World Health Organization (WHO). Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard. (2023). With Vaccination Data. https://covid19.who.int/
