Knowledge about how bereaved persons grieve can enhance quality in providing the support and potential services that they need. We aimed to identify ways in which drug-death-bereaved Norwegian pare...

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0030222820923168

How Do Drug-Death-Bereaved Parents Adjust to Life Without the Deceased? A Qualitative Study:

Alcohol and other drug use

Drug-death bereaved parents are at risk of high levels of prolonged grief (PG) symptoms. We included 93 Norwegian drug-death bereaved parents in a cross-sectional survey and aimed to explain PG sym...

Prevalence and predictors of prolonged grief symptoms among those bereaved from a drug-related death in a convenience sample of Norwegian parents: A cross-sectional study.

This paper explores the impact of complicated grief on the family system following the drug-related death of a family member. Drug-related deaths are rife with moral stigmas, and those left behind often carry an emotional burden laden with shame and guilt. 17 bereaved family members were interviewed using semi-structured interviews and transcripts were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Three core themes were generated: Renegotiation of Relationships; Experiencing Complex Emotions; and Adjusting to a New Reality. The findings demonstrate that this population experience great difficulty in processing their grief as they struggle with family breakdown, navigating supports and stigma.

'Special death': living with bereavement by drug-related death in Ireland.

The following self-analysis contains key experiences of maternal grief over the course of the first 2 years following the death of a child, with specific examples and observations from bereaved mothers shared with the author. The references provide supporting evidence for commonality of the lived experience and observations. Therapeutic responses for clinicians give concrete direction for providing effective comfort. Self-care suggestions for mothers provide specific guidance for the readers. A 14-year retrospective epilogue puts the charged emotional description into a context of healing.

https://spcare.bmj.com/content/bmjspcare/11/1/101.full.pdf

Maternal grief: analysis and therapeutic recommendations.

Background: Drug-death bereavement is an understudied topic. We explore what bereaved parents experience after losing their child to drug use. The aim of the paper is to provide knowledge about wha...

Sonja Mellingen

Papers

Sounds of silence. The “special grief” of drug-death bereaved parents: a qualitative study