2023-07-05 09:03:27
During the covid pandemic, many restrictions were decreed that modified the celebration of funerals and farewell rituals producing psychological sequelae and difficulties in accepting grief.
In this context, the ASV Group Funeral Services has prepared the report “Sequences of Covid-19 in overcoming grief”, which delves into and analyzes the effects that still prevail in many people who lost their loved ones during the pandemic.
The study collects the experience of different psychologists and social actors who contributed in the pandemic to directly manage the grief of the people affected.
In addition, testimonies of people who could not carry out an adequate farewell ritual for their deceased relatives are included.
According to this report, the 61,7 % of social workers perceived an increase in the demand for mental health care and a increase in psychological disorders on the occasion of a duel dragged since the pandemic.
Consequences of Covid-19 in overcoming grief
Three years after the health emergency, the effects of a different and complicated duel continue sinking into mental health.
A study conducted by the Zaragoza’s University in 2020, surveyed 50 workers and revealed that at least the 68% of losses caused during the pandemic meant a duel with consequences on the mental health of family members.
The pressure during the pandemic, the restrictions, the unexpected deaths of family members, the absence of social support at wakes… are some of the factors that stall grief of many people, according to the report of the ASV Group.
1. Feeling of guilt and remorse
Nuria Javaloyes, a psychologist specialized in accompanying mourning processes, affirms that the pandemic has caused mourning to become “entrenched”. In the words of the psychologist herself, “there are emotional tasks that many relatives have not been able to overcome because for them there is still no awareness of loss.”
The feelings of anger and guilt They are the most widespread.
“Many of the patients still trapped in this duel are still looking for answers to questions such as: why did he go out and not protect himself? Or why did I catch it?”, explains the psychologist.
“Guilt is the most complicated thing to work on in mourning because it is related to anger. It is not solved by trying to remove the blame from the patient early. It is a slow process in which the patient has to forgive himself”, explains Nuria Javaloyes.
2. Uncertainty and emotional difficulties
Many relatives who requested the autopsy of their loved ones were unable to receive it and were unable to hold a wake, further complicating the management of mourning.
The psychologist specialized in mourning Victoria Meléndez considers that “the lack of support at wakes produces a host of altered emotions, among which are the affective sequelae, the panic, depression, guilt, apathy, and post-traumatic stress”.
Luisa Pedrero, in addition to working in her psychological consultation, coordinates support groups in Malaga to manage grief.
Among the patients with whom he works, he also perceives the feeling of uncertainty due to the type of death and the conditions in which the pandemic occurred.
“The pandemic hinders the development of a normal duel and gives more ballots to the occurrence of a pathological duel”, affirms this expert.
3. Depression
The loss of a loved one can trigger depressive symptoms in some people. The report reflects that these symptoms have increased during the pandemic and can include a feeling of emptiness, loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities, changes in appetite and sleep, lack of energy, and difficulty concentrating.
Mourning is a process that ends when the person gradually returns to being himself. EFE/Villar Lopez
4. Social isolation and lack of support
According to the report, the lack of personal contact and the absence of farewell rituals such as wakes make people feel more isolated and make their grieving process more difficult.
During the pandemic, some of the measures that mental health experts recommended to minimize the impact of grief was holding symbolic rituals such as writing farewell letters or organizing celebrations and solemn acts.
“Every ritual that we do helps to connect with what happened and, although it causes pain and anguish, it is a process that patients must go through because it helps to connect with the loved one; For example, talking about him or celebrating his birthday, ”explains psychologist Victoria Meléndez.
5. Trauma, disbelief and anxiety
The sudden shock, lack of preparation, and unique circumstances of the related deaths
with the Covid-19 have left traumatic aftermaths in many grieving people.
Guillermo Fouce, president of the Psychologists Without Borders Foundation, explains that in the post-pandemic years he has observed a increased anxiety and depression in patients who have not yet overcome or accepted grief.
“The disbelief in the face of death, it continues to be installed in many people who refuse to accept that a family member has left”, says Fouce.
The mourning experienced as a result of the Covid-19 can mask other problems, according to experts. Anxiety disorders, stomach problems, physical reactions such as dermatitis are some sequelae behind which a painful duel is hidden.
The psychologists consulted in the report presented by the ASV Group Funeral Services agree that the consequences of complicated grief may vary depending on the people, their vulnerabilities, their dependent ties, their emotions or the circumstances of the death of the loved one.
Social support: overcome grief after a loss due to covid
The president of Psychologists Without Borders, Guillermo Fouce, insists on the importance of social support in any grieving process.
“It is important to generate support networks such as group therapy,” he defends.
During the pandemic, health centers offered support both to people affected by Covid-19 and to family members who could not say goodbye.
Olivia Reñón, a nurse in the ICU of the Orihuela Hospital (Alicante), was part of a humanization group with almost 140 health experts.
“We had young patients die and there were families left with grief that we still don’t know how long it will take them to get over. Many colleagues and professionals have an unfinished duel. In my ICU the staff ran out and only ten percent remained. Some ended up medicated and with very long sick leave”, explains Olivia Reñón.
A healthcare worker attends to a patient in the ICU of the Basurto Hospital in Bilbao. EFE/Miguel Toña
Personal testimonies of overcoming grief after the covid
The president of Psychologists Without Borders, Guillermo Fouce, worked at the Getafe City Council as consumer and health coordinator and was a main actor helping to manage the grief of relatives affected by complicated grief.
talking about her personal experience, He comments in the report what helped him the most after losing his parents during confinement: “It helped me a lot to write a farewell letter to my parents that I later published on the internet. The fact of doing pedagogy also helped me a lot. I went on television telling my case and that helped other people in similar situations”.
On the other hand, JCP remembers with sadness and anger the lack of information and not having had the option of seeing his mother’s body.
“They transferred her to the cemetery in a closed coffin and we never saw her again. The only thing they told you was that she had covid and her lungs were flooded, ”she says.
Another of the testimonies included in the report is presented by the psychologist Luisa Pedrero. She recounts the case of one of her patients, who was dragging a divorce and a history of substance use. These circumstances made it very difficult to overcome the death of his father, who represented his main support.
Alejandra Garrido also lost her father during the pandemic and needed a year of therapy to manage the feeling of guilt after losing him to this disease.
His father was admitted to a residence in Madrid due to suffering from multiple sclerosis, a place where he later contracted Covid. There he died, without the possibility of knowing the causes of death as it was not possible to perform an autopsy.
“I was on leave for a year due to anxiety and I felt very guilty because I hadn’t talked to my father for a week,” says Alejandra Garrido.
Alejandra had to manage little by little through therapy the feelings of anger and guilt that invaded him after the death of his father.
Is everyone ready for the farewell?
As experts agree, the overcoming time of a loss is not defined since it is something very personal and depends on many factors.
Sometimes, the fact of not overcoming the mourning phase comes from other previous and still latent problems in the patients. In the case of losses during the pandemic, the problems derived from social isolation and management of the health emergency are added to the mourning.
For some experts, the fundamental thing is that the patient is prepared to be able to carry out the farewell rituals. As the psychologist Victoria Meléndez affirms: “until the circumstances of death are accepted, it cannot be overcome and move forward on the road.”
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