DOCSLIB.ORG

The Grief Journey

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Grief Journey The Grief Journey ‘Let my heart be wise, it is God’s best gift’ EURIPIDES By David Flagg Let us turn to a summary of the bereavement process. The experience is ‘The trouble is my friends at church think different for everyone but it has certain I should be over it by now.’ common factors, and indeed seems to follow a similar pattern. So the stages of ‘I feel I should be able to cope.’ grief have often been identified and labelled in different ways. For simplicity’s ‘If only my faith were stronger I wouldn’t sake we shall see the process as a still be like this.’ fourfold one. It is worth noting that we do not move from one stage to another at It is heartfelt comments like these that clearly defined points. As the illustration have convinced me over some years that below indicates the stages give way to Christians need educating about a each other more subtly, and at times the natural and God given process called force of a stage we thought we had got grief. A survey of clergy (who deal over returns with unexpected poignancy. regularly in this field) revealed an It is also true that the journey of grief may appalling ignorance of the bereavement begin before our loved one or friend dies, process. What we need, therefore, is a if for example we know that they have a more informed awareness and a greater terminal illness. On the other hand acceptance of the grief journey. If it is sudden or accidental death will prolong natural and God-given then we cannot the early stages of grief and we may find expect as Christians to be exempt from it. ourselves saying things like, ‘I don’t think Indeed as Christians sensitive to the Holy it’s really hit me yet’. The diagram Spirit and in touch with our God-given suggests that there is a ‘peak’ of grief feelings, we shall often find ourselves that, as far as I understand it, is when more likely to experience grief or sorrow everything is going on at once. No one patterns. I am interpreting grief widely stage is completely resolved and there when I say this, because of course it is a may be a sense of confusion, stress and factor in many situations of loss or pain tension. It is always guesswork to put this as well as in the death of a loved one. As in terms of the passage of time, but as a we read the New Testament we find that rough guide we might observe that grief grief is a real and expressed emotion ‘peaks’ about six months to a year after it (e.g. Luke 19:41, John 11:35, Mark first begins. The whole process of the 14:34, Acts 20:37-38, Romans 8:26, diagram may take one to two years, or Hebrews 5:7). Indeed tears can be a considerably longer in the case of losing form of praying. marriage partners, parents or children. Years later the pain of a sorrow may suddenly feel as real as yesterday. 1 Unreality: ‘I don’t believe it’ different moments through the whole When painful truth dawns upon us we grief process. A good example is the cannot absorb it in one go. So the early desire to share something significant with stage of grief is one of numbness, not our loved one. ‘When I get home’, we say unlike suffering from shock. People have to ourselves without thinking, ‘I will tell described it as feeling ‘like cotton wool’ them about this . .’ and then suddenly and to some extent it is a kind of natural we realise they are not there to tell. This anaesthetic that wears off slowly as we kind of experience can catch us begin to be able to absorb the pain. unawares months after our bereavement began. There may be a sense that the dead person has ‘just gone on a long journey’ Reality: ‘I can’t bear it’ from which they will soon return. There Gradually the pain of our loss and the may also be a kind of euphoria which reality of our loved one’s absence carries us through this stage and which becomes more and more acute. This is causes others to say, ‘They are coping the stage when the grief will express absolutely wonderfully’. When this is itself and weeping from deep inside may linked with a strong Christian faith it can feel endless. We cry and cry but we do be regarded by onlookers as a sign that not exhaust the grief. Rather it exhausts the person has overcome their grief by us, and all kinds of physical, mental and means of their faith. It is important for spiritual symptoms can occur. Tiredness, helpers to realise that the stage of dizziness, sleeplessness and a kind of apparent wellbeing will not last. What ‘cloak’ of despair may overwhelm us. may last for quite a long time is the Depression at this stage may be viewed feeling deep within that ‘somehow I still as a protective cloak that we need in can’t believe it’. This unreality theme will order to let us get on with our grieving. continue to recur at some level and at We may be unable to cope with the 2 smallest of everyday demands. We may letting go and a commendation of the feel we are going out of our minds. Our departed, at a point in our journey when mind is likely to feel sluggish and probably we are unable to enter into that confused. We may forget things or forget process. But if we have participated in the word we wanted to use. How the funeral it remains there in our important it is to be reassured that this is memory as a powerful symbol to draw all perfectly normal . We are also in this upon. And there come moments when stage processing our memories, we ‘let the coffin go’ as we may have sometimes playing them over and over seen it go at the service. Tasks like again, and often saying ‘if only this’ or clearing out a bedroom or the wardrobe ‘what if that?’ We can feel totally also help us to move on. Literally moving insecure, expecting others around us to house can be the occasion when we turn be ill or die, because the secure a corner on the journey. Or we may go foundations of our world have been away, perhaps to a quiet place of retreat, shaken. This acute stage of grief is when where God can minister to us and help we need the support of friends who will us to handle some of our inner conflicts. simply listen, listen without comment or criticism as we need to talk about our Anniversaries are turning points, and loved one and as we express strong special days too like birthdays and feelings of sorrow, guilt, anger or fear. Christmas. Every time another one goes Often our anger will be directed at others, past we find ourselves (painfully) letting e.g. doctors, vicars, God himself. We go a little more. The celebration of a may find ourselves on a short fuse with Eucharist may be of great help, little time for the needs of others. Again, it especially if we are not able to be at the is important for our helpers to realise that funeral, and especially too where we are self-absorbed and we need to be traumatic death has occurred (accident, self-absorbed at this stage of the suicide, termination of pregnancy, process. miscarriage, etc). In such a ‘Eucharist of the Resurrection’ Christ dispels much of Adjustment: ‘What can I do to handle the darkness and heaviness around our it?’ loss. Slowly we move towards the possibility of adjusting to our loss. The depth of our Moving On: ‘I feel better but I’ll never pain has been reached and we find some be the same again’ energy to work at how we can move The length of time which it takes to come forward. Still there will be times when we through our grief journey varies from seem to take one step forward and ten situation to situation. And we are never back. Often others will notice that we are the same again. It is not simply a ‘coming through’ the worst before we do. question of getting back to normal. The process of adjustment may well Something within us has died with the include tying up unfinished business. loved one and something also comes to Regrets, hurts, things said or not said – new life as we chart a new course somehow these need to be resolved. without them. Certain pockets of our grief Skilled counselling may be helpful in this are likely to remain so that experiences phase. Prayer and ministry can move us of rejection or loss can awaken the pain. on as the Lord heals some of the loose It remains a vulnerable area. We shall ends and hurt places. The gradual task of still need some insight into the ways letting go begins. We need to let go of aspects of our grief are unresolved. We our loved one and to commit them may well need skilled help even years wholeheartedly to God. All along the grief after a bereavement. journey there are symbolic moments that may help us. The funeral service is a 3 • We need people who understand and accept that living with a bereaved person is hard work.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Open S Teague Thesis Final Etd
    The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of the Liberal Arts A LITTLE GOES A LONG WAY: ANGER EXPRESSION DURING TECHNOLOGY-MEDIATED PERFORMANCE FEEDBACK A Thesis in Psychology by Sarah E. Teague © 2011 Sarah E. Teague Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science August 2011 The thesis of Sarah E. Teague was reviewed and approved* by the following: Alicia G. Grandey Associate Professor of Psychology Thesis Adviser Sam T. Hunter Assistant Professor of Psychology Karen Gasper Associate Professor of Psychology Melvin M. Mark Head of the Department of Psychology *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School ii ABSTRACT Emotions have been found to convey information that helps individuals make sense of and manipulate their environment. One example that is relevant to the workplace can be seen in feedback interventions. According to the social functional perspective, emotions expressed by the feedback provider are likely to add to a recipient’s understanding of the feedback message. The Emotions as Social Information (EASI) model is consistent with this perspective and states that expressed emotions influence observer behavior through two pathways: performance inferences and affective reactions (e.g. liking of the feedback provider). Recent work with the EASI model suggests that angry feedback can have beneficial effects on performance, and the current study expands these findings by investigating whether technology-mediated communication influences how recipients respond to angry feedback. Drawing on media richness theory, I proposed that angry feedback would be perceived as more intense in richer media and that this would have an indirect effect on individuals’ behavior on subsequent task performance through effect of the two EASI pathways.
    [Show full text]
  • Measuring Expressed Emotion: an Evaluation of the Shortcuts
    Measuring Expressed Emotion: An Evaluation of the Shortcuts The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Hooley, Jill M., and Holly A. Parker. 2006. Measuring expressed emotion: An evaluation of the shortcuts. Journal of Family Psychology 20, no. 3: 386-396. Published Version http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.20.3.386 Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:3201599 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Journal of Family Psychology Copyright 2006 by the American Psychological Association 2006, Vol. 20, No. 3, 386–396 0893-3200/06/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/0893-3200.20.3.386 Measuring Expressed Emotion: An Evaluation of the Shortcuts Jill M. Hooley and Holly A. Parker Harvard University The construct of expressed emotion (EE) is a highly reliable and valid predictor of poor clinical outcomes in patients with major psychopathology. Patients are at early risk for relapse if they live with family members who are classified as high in EE. Conventionally, EE is assessed with the Camberwell Family Interview (CFI), a semistructured interview that is conducted with the patient’s key relatives. Unfortunately, training in the CFI is difficult to obtain. The CFI is also time-consuming to administer and labor intensive to rate. In this article, the authors discuss alternative ways of assessing EE.
    [Show full text]
  • Expressed Emotion in Caregivers of Persons with Dementia and the Relationship With
    Expressed Emotion in caregivers of persons with dementia and the relationship with psychological outcomes in caregivers and persons with dementia. A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health 2018 Roxanne Safavi School of Health Sciences CONTENTS List of tables………………………………………………………………………... 9 List of figures……………………………………….................................................. 10 List of appendices……………………………….………………………………….. 11 List of Abbreviations……………………………………………………………….. 12 Abstract……………………………………………………………………………... 17 Declaration…...……………………………….…….................................................. 18 Copyright statement……………………………………………….………………... 18 Acknowledgements……………………………………............................................. 19 Preface……………………………………………………………………………… 19 Journal thesis format……………………………..…………………….…………… 20 Chapter 1: Background………………………………………………………........ 21 1.1 Dementia………………………………………….…………………………….. 21 1.1.1 Overview of dementia…………………………………..……………… 21 1.1.2 Prevalence of dementia……………………………………..………….. 23 1.1.3 Long term care for dementia……………………………………..…….. 24 1.1.4 Pharmacological treatment of dementia……………………………...... 25 1.1.5 Non-pharmacological treatment of psychological symptoms of dementia..………………………………………………………………. 26 1.2 Caregivers of persons with dementia…………………………………………… 28 1.2.1 The role of caregivers………………………………………………….. 28 1.2.2 Consequences of caring………………………………………………... 29 1.3 Persons with dementia………………………………………………………….
    [Show full text]
  • Reframing Emotion As Passion
    Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 137 (2016) 1–12 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/obhdp Managing perceptions of distress at work: Reframing emotion as passion ⇑ Elizabeth Baily Wolf a, , Jooa Julia Lee b, Sunita Sah c, Alison Wood Brooks d a Harvard Business School, Cotting 300E, Soldiers Field Road, Boston, MA 02163, United States b The University of Michigan, The Stephen M. Ross School of Business, 701 Tappan Ave, R4661, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States c Cornell University, Johnson Graduate School of Management, Sage Hall 326, Ithaca, NY 14853, United States d Harvard Business School, Baker Library 463, Soldiers Field Road, Boston, MA 02163, United States article info abstract Article history: Expressing distress at work can have negative consequences for employees: observers perceive employ- Received 3 January 2015 ees who express distress as less competent than employees who do not. Across five experiments, we Revised 1 July 2016 explore how reframing a socially inappropriate emotional expression (distress) by publicly attributing Accepted 13 July 2016 it to an appropriate source (passion) can shape perceptions of, and decisions about, the person who expressed emotion. In Studies 1a-c, participants viewed individuals who reframed distress as passion as more competent than those who attributed distress to emotionality or made no attribution. In Keywords: Studies 2a-b, reframing emotion as passion shifted interpersonal decision-making: participants were Distress more likely to hire job candidates and choose collaborators who reframed their distress as passion com- Passion Reframing pared to those who did not.
    [Show full text]
  • Bipolar Disorder L a R
    B I P O Bipolar Disorder L A R The diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children is a controversial topic even amongst child psychiatric specialists. This controversy makes it difficult for primary care providers to know what to do when they are wondering about bipolar disorder in their patient. We would prefer that primary care providers would not have to struggle with this, and could refer all such patients to skilled mental health specialists to assist with diagnosis and treatment. The reality is that many primary care providers feel they do not have that option. This guide on bipolar diagnosis and treatment aims to provide guidance to the primary care provider struggling on their own to sort out a diagnosis, or otherwise manage a bipolar disordered child in their practice. PRIMARY CARE PRINCIPLES FOR CHILD MENTAL HEALTH 55 Considering Bipolar Disorder? Strongly consider other reasons for the symptoms such as: ADHD Conduct Disorder Oppositional Defiant Disorder Treat other causes of Major Depression symptoms, especially Early abuse or neglect in dysregulation syndromes if unsure of “Difficult” temperament of child plus interpersonal conflicts bipolar diagnosis Autism Spectrum Disorder, especially with oppositionality OCD, separation anxiety or other anxiety disorder Medical causes of mania (including fetal alcohol syndrome) Safety check: Suicidality? Drug abuse? Current neglect/abuse? Diagnosis: Does child have history of clear manic episode for >4 days? History of hospitalization for mania? If yes to any, child should History of psychosis or severe suicidality? see a mental health YES Symptom of inappropriate euphoria/grandiosity? specialist to evaluate/treat Bipolar I or Bipolar II A rating scale (such as the Child Mania Rating Scale or Young Mania (also called “narrow Rating Scale) can help elicit or track symptoms but be cautious about phenotype” bipolar) using a rating scale to make a bipolar diagnosis, which requires a comprehensive mental health evaluation.
    [Show full text]
  • Family Values, Religiosity, and Emotional Reactions to Schizophrenia in Mexican and Anglo-American Cultures AMY G
    _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Fam Proc 35:227-237, 1996 Family Values, Religiosity, and Emotional Reactions to Schizophrenia in Mexican and Anglo-American Cultures AMY G. WEISMAN, Ph.D.a STEVEN R. LÓPEZ, Ph.D.b aPostdoctoral Fellow Department of Pschology, UCLA Family Project, 1285 Franz Hall, Los Angeles, CA90024-1563. After August 1 1996, send correspondence/reprint request to Dr. Weisman, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts-Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston MA 02125-3393. bAssociate Professor, Department of Psychology, UCLA Family Project, Los Angeles CA. This study was designed to test whether two sociocultural variables, family cohesion and religiosity, related to affective reactions toward schizophrenia. It was hypothesized that increasing perceptions of one's family as cohesive and religious would be associated with the expression of more favorable and less unfavorable emotions toward patients with the disorder. Eighty-eight Anglo-American undergraduates from Los Angeles and 88 Mexican undergraduates from Guadalajara read vignettes of a hypothetical family member described as meeting DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia. Results of this study suggest that perceptions of family unity may be one important factor underlying emotional reactions toward schizophrenia. As expected, increasing perceptions of family cohesion were associated with greater reports of favorable emotion and decreased reports of unfavorable emotion toward the patient. However, after controlling for social desirability, family cohesion no longer significantly predicted unfavorable affect. Contrary to expectations, religiosity was not found to predict unfavorable or favorable emotions. However, religiosity was found to covary with nationality. Mexicans, compared to Anglos, reported greater moral-religious values in their families. No national differences were found with respect to family cohesion.
    [Show full text]
  • Expressed Emotion in a Woman with Bipolar Disorder: a Case Report from Deli Serdang
    Open Access Maced J Med Sci electronic publication ahead of print, published on August 28, 2019 as https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2019.400 ID Design Press, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2019.400 eISSN: 1857-9655 Neuroscience, Neurology and Psychiatry Expressed Emotion in a Woman with Bipolar Disorder: A Case Report from Deli Serdang Indah V. Putri*, Elmeida Effendy Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia Abstract Citation: Putri IV, Effendy E. Expressed Emotion in a BACKGROUND: Aretaeus of Cappadocia first described the bipolar disorder in 30 Masehi. Falret separated this Woman with Bipolar Disorder: A Case Report from Deli disorder and called it folie circulaire in 1854. A bipolar patient had a change in mood from depression to mania Serdang. Open Access Maced J Med Sci. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2019.400 and vice versa while having normal (euthymic) mood period in between. She experienced mood fluctuations that Keywords: Case Report; Bipolar Disorder; Expressed were typical of bipolar disorder. This case report was aimed to understand the personal experience of a bipolar Emotion patient confronting her mood changes and expressing their emotions. *Correspondence: Indah V. Putri. Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Sumatera CASE REPORT: We presented a case of a 25year-old bipolar woman, makeup artist, unmarried, from Batak Utara, Medan, Indonesia. E-mail: tribe. She came alone to seek treatment from a psychiatrist for her mood changes that she could not comprehend. [email protected] Received: 11-Jul-2019; Revised: 13-Aug-2019; CONCLUSION: We provided psychoeducation to help her recognise her bipolar disorder and direct her emotional Accepted: 14-Aug-2019; Online first: 28-Aug-2019 expression to more positive things, in her case, makeup and writing.
    [Show full text]
  • The Relationship of Expressed Emotion And
    THE RELATIONSHIP OF EXPRESSED EMOTION AND PSYCHOSOCIAL VARIABLES WITH THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF HAEMODIALYSIS PATIENTS : AN ANALYSIS WITHIN THE CONSERVATION OF RESOURCES MODEL A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHINICAL UNIVERSITY BY ÖZDEN YALÇINKAYA ALKAR IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY JUNE 2006 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Sencer Ayata Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Nebi Sümer Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. A. Nuray Karancı Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. A. Nuray Karancı (METU, PSY) Doç. Dr. Tülin Gençöz (METU, PSY) Doç. Dr. Gonca Soygüt (HÜ, PSY) Doç. Dr. Atilla Soykan (AÜ, PSYCHIATRY) Dr. Özlem Bozo (METU, PSY) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Özden Yalçınkaya Alkar Signature : iii ABSTRACT QUALITY OF LIFE OF HAEMODIALYSIS PATIENTS AND RELATIONSHIP TO EXPRESSED EMOTION AND PSYCHOSOCIAL VARIABLES: AN ANALYSIS WITHIN THE CONSERVATION OF RESOURCES MODEL Yalçınkaya Alkar, Özden Ph.D., Department of Psychology Supervisor : Prof.
    [Show full text]
  • Psychological Processes Associated with Expressed Emotion in Carers of People with Long-Term Mental Health Difficulties Mary Ge
    Psychological Processes Associated with Expressed Emotion in Carers of People with Long-Term Mental Health Difficulties Mary Gemma Cherry June 2016 Supervised by: Dr Stephen Lloyd Brown Dr Peter James Taylor Professor William Sellwood Submitted in partial fulfilment of the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, University of Liverpool Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the support and generosity of many people, to whom I will forever be grateful. First, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to everyone who participated in this research, together with the many kind souls that helped me with recruitment. I am humbled by your kindness; thank you. Second, I would like to thank my supervisors, Professor Bill Sellwood, Dr Peter Taylor and Dr Steve Brown, for their invaluable advice, support, and presence over the last three years. You have showed me the kind of supervisor I would eventually like to be, and I genuinely couldn’t have done this without you. Third, I would like to thank the hard-working programme staff, especially my personal tutor, Dr Laura Golding, for all of your support during my three years on the programme. It’s been a wonderful experience, albeit stressful at times! Finally, this acknowledgements section wouldn’t be complete without thanking the most important people in my life: my family, friends and partner, Jake. Mum, dad and Luce, thanks so much for your unwavering support, kindness and belief that it would all come together in the end. Please accept my solemn promise that I will never, ever, ever sign up for another doctorate ever again.
    [Show full text]
  • Relationship Between Expressed Emotion and Expectant Mothers
    Relationship between Expressed Emotion and Expectant Mothers Psychological Well-being *Ayesha Rasheed **Talat Sohail***Uzma Quraishi, ****Tehziba Kausar Abstract The aim of study was to explore the relationship that exists between expressed emotion and psychological health of expectant mothers. The study focused on relationship between expressed emotion and psychological wellbeing of expectant mothers. Another aim of the study was to find out the relationship between attitude and the behavior of family members and the psychological health factors that affect the expectant mothers. The study is based on Schachter-Singer Appraisal theory. The theory of Schacter-Singer combines the physiological arousal with cognitive factors to describe emotion. Sciences. Correlation, and Anova were used for the purpose of statistical analysis. Keywords: Expressed Emotion, Expectant Mothers, Psychological wellbeing This article can be cited as: Rasheed,A. Sohail,T. Quraishi,U & Kauser,T.(2016). Relationship between Expressed Emotion and Expectant Mothers Psychological Well-being Journal of Arts and Social Sciences,1(2), 36 – 62. 2 *Ayesha Rasheed, Scholer, Department of Applied Psychology, LCWU. **Talat Sohail, Department of Applied Psychology, LCWU. Email: [email protected] ***Prof. Dr. Uzma Quraishi, Department of Education, LCWU. Email: [email protected] ****Tehziba Kausar, MS Health Psychology scholor Department of Applied Psychology, LCWU. Email: tehziba@hotmailcom Introduction Correlation research design was used to collect data from (n=105)
    [Show full text]
  • Influence of Carer Expressed Emotion and Affect on Relapse in Non
    BRITISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY (2006), 188, 173^179 Influence of carer expressed emotion and affect participating patients, and were conducted before randomisation into the trial. on relapse in non-affective psychosis The trial was based in four National Health Service (NHS) trusts in London and East Anglia in the UK. Within each of E. KUIPERS, P. BEBBINGTON, G. DUNN, D. FOWLER, D. FREEMAN, these trusts, recruitmentwas from speci- P. WATSON, A. HARDY and P. GARETYGARE T Y fied in-patient and out-patientout-patient teams which agreed that all patients who met the eligibility criteria would be asked to participate in the trial. These services were canvassed at least fortnightly for patients with psychosis who were relapsing. Patients Background High expressed emotion High expressed emotion in carers predicts who fulfilled the eligibility criteria were in carers predicts relapse in psychosis, but an increased relapse rate in schizophrenia asked to give their informed consent. (Bebbington & Kuipers, 1994; Butzlaff & Patients with carers who were in contact it is not known why this is so.In our Hooley, 1998). This finding led to the de- (including telephone contact) with them cognitive model of psychosis, we velopment of family interventions, which for at least 10 h a week were also asked postulated thatthe effectis mediated were recently endorsed by the National to give their consent to be contacted. These through affective changes. Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) carers were then asked for their consent to guidelines on schizophrenia (National enter the trial. Patients were recruited at Aims Toinvestigate the relationships Institute for Clinical Excellence, 2003).
    [Show full text]
  • Expressed Emotion, Attributions, and Schizophrenia Symptom Dimensions
    Journal of Abnormal Pswholog Copyright 1998 by the American Psychological Association, Inc. 1998, \bl. 107. No. 2. 355-35! 0021-S43X/98/$3.00 Expressed Emotion, Attributions, and Schizophrenia Symptom Dimensions Amy G. Weisman Keith H. Nuechterlein, Michael J. Goldstein, University of Massachusetts at Boston and Karen S. Snyder University of California, Los Angeles Using a sample of 40 Anglo American family members of schizophrenic patients, the present study replicates and lends cross-cultural support for an attribution-affect model of expressed emotion (EE). Consistent with attribution theory, the authors found that highly critical relatives (high-EE) viewed the illness and associated symptoms as residing more within the patient's personal control as compared with less critical relatives (low-EE). A content analysis classified the types of behaviors and symptoms most frequently criticized by relatives. Symptoms reflecting behavioral deficits (e.g., poor hygiene) were found to be criticized more often than symptoms reflecting behavioral excesses (e.g., hallucinations). In line with an attribution-affect framework, relatives may be less tolerant of behavioral deficits because they are viewed as intentional, whereas behavioral excesses are easily recognized as core symptoms of mental illness. Numerous research studies, using a construct termed ex- high levels of criticism and hostility tended to be more internal pressed emotion (EE), have demonstrated that the course of and blameworthy (e.g., "My view of things is that Maria acts schizophrenia is highly correlated with the family atmosphere. that way so my wife doesn't give her any responsibilities around A review of 26 studies (Kavanagh, 1992) indicated that patients the house").
    [Show full text]