Moderate Bereavement Risk

What constitutes a moderate level of risk for adjustment after a loss? Grief professionals look for two or more of the following factors present in the lives of the bereaved:

• limited social support or perception of limited support by the bereaved
• difficulty coping with current or past stressors
• stressors, in addition to the loss, are present such as financial, housing, relationship difficulties
• poor health or somatic symptoms lasting more than a month (after the death)
• guilt or ambivalence about the loved ones death or the care provided prior to the death
• unresolved previous losses
• unexpected death
• younger age (of the deceased) or young children at home

Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care

Again, as in the previous entry about low bereavement risk, we can be proactive in bolstering our internal and external resources to help us weather the inevitability of various losses inherent in life...develop a quality network of friends and family, learn how to manage stress better, maintain physical and financial health, resolve unfinished business with loved ones, attend to our own hurts, and perhaps ultimately, continually examine the existential nature of death and what that means to each of us.