Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Meaning-making is increasingly recognized as a fundamental aspect of the grief \nexperience. This study investigated the process of meaning-making in the narratives of \nindividuals whose partners died by suicide, exploring their meaning reconstruction in \nresponse to this form of loss. The narratives of users of a public online grief support \nforum (n = 50) were analyzed using the Meaning of Loss Codebook (Gillies, Neimeyer, \n& Milman, 2014), which consists of core categories of meaning of loss in response to the \ndeath of a loved one. The results indicated that these individuals predominantly \nexperienced negative affect, a lack of understanding associated with the loss, and a \nlonging for their partners. The grief experience of participants in this study was marked \nby substantial psychological distress and an ongoing struggle to make sense of and find \nmeaning in this type of loss. It is clear that grieving the loss of a partner as a result of \nsuicide presents unique challenges to meaning-making in comparison to other types of \nloss. Given the importance of this aspect of adjustment to loss, these findings deepen the \nunderstanding of this component of grief and inform the provision of support for those \ngrieving a loved one who died by suicide.
Author: Tyler R. Pritchard
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2586645070