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Grief: Its nature and significance
Abstract
Analyzes bereavement behavior from cultural, biological, and psychological perspectives. Mourning is distinguished from grief and the relationship between them examined. Mourning is considered to represent conventional behavior as determined by the mores and customs of society. Grief comprises a stereotyped set of psychological and physiological reactions of biological origin. It is hypothesized that the adaptive function of grief is to ensure group cohesiveness in species where a social form of existence is necessary for survival. The phylogenetic and physiological evidence related to this hypothesis is reviewed, and the symptomatology of grief is examined. It is argued that discussions of grief are conspicuously rare in the psychological literature because the behavior of the bereaved is not explicable within most current models of emotion. (3 p. ref.)
... The current chapter also develops the contextual framework of this study by providing a theoretical perspective grounded in Bronfenbrenner's (1986) Averill, 1968;Bowlby, 1969;Corr, 2019;Davies, 2017;Engel, 1961;Holloway, 2007;Lindemann, 1944;Parkes, 1972;Rando, 1984;Stroebe & Schut, 1999). ...
... Additional stage and phase grief theories emerged with similar response trajectories (e.g. Averill, 1968;Bowlby, 1969;Parkes, 1972;Rando, 1984). It is important to note that the staged/phased theories of grief were not intended to be interpreted as linear and several scholars, including Dr Colin Murray Parkes OBE, highlighted this fact at the time of publication, and J. William Worden has revised and updated his "Tasks of ...
... Within a chronological context, the advancement of knowledge on grief involved largely stage, phase, and task (i.e. deterministic) models (Averill, 1968;Bowlby, 1969;Lindemann, 1944;Parkes, 1972;Rando, 1984;Sanders, 1999;Worden, 2009), however, Parkes (1972) made a significant contribution by asserting that grievers use a "filtering" system to let through, or filter out, unwanted information; that the process of grieving is an overall process of realisation in which the individual comes to terms with the reality of the loss. Whilst still related to the earlier grief "work" models where bereavement was a process of "working through" a series of stages/phases/tasks until "acceptance" is achieved, Parkes' contribution highlighted the individualistic component of grief. ...
The current research presents an exploratory bioecological understanding of female experiences of miscarriage or abortion during secondary school-ages. A systematic review revealed that the topic area is empirically sparse, predominantly derived from the nursing discipline, and US-centric. A sequential explanatory design was conducted with continual convergence across two individual but connected studies. With a focus on qualitative methodology, the studies comprised: (a) phase one: design, implementation, and analysis of The Adult Attitude to Adolescent Perinatal Death Questionnaire (AAA) (n = 23); and (b) phase two: adult retrospective in-depth semi-structured interviews with women who had experienced an adolescent perinatal death whilst attending secondary school (n = 6). This innovative, transnational research found that, for society, there is a greater need for awareness of female victim blaming, an awareness of the continued imposition of patriarchal norms on developing females, and a need for awareness of continuing female adolescent pregnancy stigmatisation. For educators, there is a need for awareness of female adolescent pregnancy marginalisation, a need to provide education and support to adolescent girls who may become pregnant, and/or experience a perinatal death, and an urgency for appropriate, needs-based, person-centred relationship and sex education. This study also found that, for parents, there is a need for awareness of Adverse Childhood Experiences, an argument for trauma-informed parenting, and a need for greater involvement in sex education. For professionals supporting, and individuals experiencing, an adolescent miscarriage or abortion, there is a need for awareness of the impact of the death to an individual, an advisory to allow females to choose whether they identify as a "bereaved mother" or not following these events, and there is a need for awareness of the impact of stigma, slut shaming, and bullying during secondary school on identity creation, and reconstruction, across the life course. Recommendations for educators are provided from participant narratives and proposals for future research are also discussed.
... The process ends with the establishment of new social bonds, which will assure the survival of the survivors. In his classical paper on the nature and significance of grief, the American psychologist James R. Averill (1968) proposed that bereavement behaviour, which he defined as «the complex series of responses following the loss of a significant object», is divided into two components: mourning and grief. According to the author, «both serve to reinforce the social structure; but while mourning is mainly of cultural origin, grief is the product of biological evolution». ...
... Both are subject to considerable individual variation depending upon the peculiar past history and present circumstances of the bereaved. (Averill, 1968) Specially in humans, grief has a typical symptomatology that many authors have been describing. Bereaved individuals express these symptoms at the psychological and physiological level, which may compromise the health and well-being of the individual. ...
... Bereaved individuals express these symptoms at the psychological and physiological level, which may compromise the health and well-being of the individual. In fact, some authors argue that this symptomatology is sufficiently uniform to represent a highly reliable syndrome to which grief is limited to (Averill, 1968). So, considering that grief response takes place in a period in which an individual becomes more vulnerable from a psychological and physiological point of view with major implications and risks for its own survival how grief can be viewed as an adaptive process with an evolutionary significance? ...
... Feelings of sadness arise after a meaningful loss (Lazarus, 1991;Levenson, 1999). The loss may be physical or symbolic (Averill, 1968) in that sadness is experienced when a loved one passes away or after a failure to attain a valuable goal (Camras & Allison, 1989;Ellsworth & Smith, 1988;Izard, 1991;Shaver et al., 1987). Sadness is commonly felt when one feels helpless in preventing a loss (Frijda, 1986;Seligman, 1975). ...
... Feelings of sadness signal to an individual that a loss, that one can do little to nothing about, has or is about to occur. Therefore, sadness might motivate one to conserve energy and resources (Averill, 1968;Bowlby, 1980;Cunningham, 1988;Mahler, 1961;Marris, 1974) through the reduction of effort and/or withdrawal (Clark & Watson, 1994), or by setting off the action tendency to withdraw into oneself (Frijda, 1986). Sadness also motivates the individual to seek for help (Ellsworth & Smith, 1988;Frijda, 1994;Levenson, 1999). ...
... The phenomena summarized next can, on the one hand, be of shorter duration or, on the other, sometimes last for years, waxing and waning over time. Furthermore, they may or may not be experienced at all (grief being long understood as a complex syndrome, Averill 1968). Affective reactions include sadness and distress, anxiety, guilt, anger, yearning, loneliness, crying, and fatigue. ...
... In closing, in the current context, it is instructive to consider the state of knowledge about grief in historical perspective: If ones looks at Averill's (1968) review of the nature and significance of grief nearly half a century ago or Parkes' (1972) in-depth exploration of the health impact of bereavement, then both theoretical and empirical advancements in the study of grief become evident. At the same time, the roots of contemporary knowledge can be clearly traced to such early scholarly contributionsjust as, one hopes, future developments may build on the contemporary body of knowledge that has also been outlined. ...
... Following the classic contribution of Averill (1968), we have defined bereavement as the objective situation of a person who has recently experienced the death of someone significant, while grief is subjective emotion, a complex phenomenon relating to the variety of psychological, behavioral, social, and physical reactions following the death of a loved one (cf. Boerner, Stroebe, Schut, & Wortman, 2016). ...
... It is important to note that the term symptoms has subsequently fallen out of favor, due to the growing concern about the danger of pathologizing grief, and in acknowledgment of the fact that positive aspects are now considered by some to be part-and-parcel of reactions to loss. In compiling our list, we drew on the extensive, scholarly work of many others (e.g., Averill, 1968;Bowlby, 1980;Lindemann, 1944;Parkes, 1972;Sanders, Mauger, & Strong, 1985;Zisook, DeVaul, & Click, 1982). We have since revisited our 1987 compilation and made a few adjustments based on subsequent research-and of course, it is still not set in stone. ...
To comprehend grief, we need knowledge about the range of diverse reactions incorporated within it. While scientists have documented the phenomena and manifestations following the loss of a loved one in quite some detail, poets can add to our understanding by portraying these vividly, bringing the feelings to life. In this article, I map the array of grief reactions identified in scientific investigations. I then go on to give short, selective illustrations from poetry, ones that have enhanced my own understanding of grief. These choices are naturally influenced by my own preferences; I include those that I find personally appealing and evocative of the multifaceted manifestations of grief. My aim is to demonstrate the value of artistic representation for scientific comprehension.
... The phenomena summarized next can, on the one hand, be of shorter duration or, on the other, sometimes last for years, waxing and waning over time. Furthermore, they may or may not be experienced at all (grief being long understood as a complex syndrome, Averill 1968). Affective reactions include sadness and distress, anxiety, guilt, anger, yearning, loneliness, crying, and fatigue. ...
... In closing, in the current context, it is instructive to consider the state of knowledge about grief in historical perspective: If ones looks at Averill's (1968) review of the nature and significance of grief nearly half a century ago or Parkes' (1972) in-depth exploration of the health impact of bereavement, then both theoretical and empirical advancements in the study of grief become evident. At the same time, the roots of contemporary knowledge can be clearly traced to such early scholarly contributionsjust as, one hopes, future developments may build on the contemporary body of knowledge that has also been outlined. ...
... 2 Kohesi adalah hubungan antar proposisi yang dinyatakan secara eksplisit oleh unsur-unsur gramatikal dan semantik dalam kalimat yang membentuk wacana. Kohesi merupakan aspek formal dalam tata bahasa terutama dalam organisasi sintaksis yang terdiri dari kalimat dalam rangka menghasilkan tuturan yang utuh kohesi sebagai saling ketergantungan antara bagian-bagian dalam struktur sintaksis 3 atau struktur wacana (Averill, 1968 (Breedt, 1973 Kepadaun sosial merupakan istilah lain dari keteraturan sosial 10 Rangkaian 11 suatu kehidupan yang harmoni,harmoni sosial ialah dimana kondisi dimana individu hidup sejalan dan serasi dengan tujuan masyarakat. Perubahan sosial secara umum dapat diartikan sebagai suatu proses pergeseran atau berubahnya strukrur/tatanan dalam masyarakat ikatan timbal balik antara orang-orang (Miller et al., 2020 (Burt, 1987 Gambar 5. Framework to characterize social cohesion (Fanzo et al., 2021) Kohesi mengacu pada sejauh mana interaksi langsung terjadi antar individu dalam sebuah sistem sosial. ...
Kohesi sosial dapat dipahami sebagai kesatuan, keutuhan, dan
kekompakan untuk menjaga anggota kelompok tetap hidup dalam suatu
komunitas. Kohesi sosial masyarakat di sepuluh desa yang dijadikan
sampel (selanjutnya disebut desa sampel) tergolong tinggi karena hampir
semuanya memberikan nilai yang signifikan dalam pemanfaatan sumber
daya yang ada di sekitar desa. Tiga komponen utama indikator sense of
community mewakili tingkat kohesi sosial dalam masyarakat di desa
sampel, yaitu keterlibatan anggota, pemberian pengaruh, dan berbagi
kontak emosional.
Kohesi sosial merupakan pilar utama dalam pembangunan ekonomi desa;
dukungan jaringan, solidaritas, dan kekeluargaan yang dimiliki oleh
masyarakat desa merupakan elemen pendukung utama dalam pertukaran
ekonomi, penguatan ekonomi, dan pemberdayaan ekonomi. Dalam
memenuhi kebutuhan dasar hidup, persoalan substansial yang selalu
dihadapi oleh sebuah keluarga atau rumah tangga adalah bagaimana
individu-individu di dalamnya dapat berusaha semaksimal mungkin dan
dapat bekerja sama untuk memenuhi kebutuhan rumah tangga sehingga
kelangsungan hidupnya tetap terjaga dan model relevansi strategi
adaptasi menjadi model dalam menjawab permasalahan pembangunan
ekonomi pedesaan.
... Our proposal here ) Figure 2) leans on Nesse and Ellsworth's (2009) evolutionary analysis of the roles of different emotions, as on an extensive psychological literature examining the antecedents and consequences of different emotions (Averill, 1968;Carver, 2004;Carver & Harmon-Jones, 2009;Cunningham, 1988Cunningham, , 1988Frijda, 1986Frijda, , 1987Harmon-Jones & Sigelman, 2001;Keltner et al., 1993;Kreibig, 2010;Lench et al., 2011Lench et al., , 2016Levine, 1996;Levine & Pizarro, 2004;Nesse & Ellsworth, 2009;Oatley et al., 2006;Oatley & Duncan, 1994;Roseman, 1996). Closely resembling our three classes of computations, this literature identifies two classes of emotions that are evoked by evident outcomes, and one that is evoked in anticipation of prospective outcomes. ...
Emotions ubiquitously impact action, learning, and perception, yet their essence and role remain widely debated. Computational accounts of emotion aspire to answer these questions with greater conceptual precision informed by normative principles and neurobiological data. We examine recent progress in this regard and find that emotions may implement three classes of computations, which serve to evaluate states, actions, and uncertain prospects. For each of these, we use the formalism of reinforcement learning to offer a new formulation that better accounts for existing evidence. We then consider how these distinct computations may map onto distinct emotions and moods. Integrating extensive research on the causes and consequences of different emotions suggests a parsimonious one-to-one mapping, according to which emotions are integral to how we evaluate outcomes (pleasure & pain), learn to predict them (happiness & sadness), use them to inform our (frustration & content) and others’ (anger & gratitude) actions, and plan in order to realize (desire & hope) or avoid (fear & anxiety) uncertain outcomes.
... His distinct descriptions of active and passive forms of grief have become a standard in grief studies and make this work Darwin's main contribution to modern psychology. Darwin's close examination of the expression of grief in monkeys and apes also paved the way for ethological discoveries in psychology, linking grief's biological origins and significance to attachment and loss theories, especially by Bowlby (1998), Averill (1968) and Lindemann (1979). ...
In its simplest form, this thesis is about cinematic representations of grief. However, it approaches and expands this subject area using a hybrid of psychoanalytic and Jungian concepts focusing on a specific type of grief: the aftermath of a traumatic bereavement. I use films and their narratives as case studies where I outline protagonists’ crypts using Nicolas Abraham and Maria Torok’s theory of the intrapsychic tomb. The way out of this trapped state is then investigated using the psychological framework of Carl Gustav Jung, which suggests that the psyche aims for an equilibrium, meaning a state of relief. After acknowledging the legacy of psychoanalytically fuelled film theory which grew with the works of Lacan, Metz, Baudry, Mulvey, and Miller, and explaining the reasons why I follow in the footsteps of Braswell, Fox, and Edwards, the investigation then pairs clinical theory with Jungian concepts and analyses seven films which not only depict traumatised states but also portray different paths out of these states. First, I use grief theory to explore the psychological problem, as my anchoring topic is traumatic loss. Second, I apply specific Jungian concepts such as shadow, symbols, archetypes, enantiodromia, amplification, and dreams to expand, explain, and illuminate particular narratives with their connections to these losses. Through using films as case studies, these new and creative applications of several Jungian concepts to cinematic narratives contribute to grief theory, film studies, psychoanalysis, and Jungian studies in a multi-layered, interconnected, and transdisciplinary way.
... Our proposal here ) Figure 2) leans on Nesse and Ellsworth's (2009) evolutionary analysis of the roles of different emotions, as on an extensive psychological literature examining the antecedents and consequences of different emotions (Averill, 1968;Carver, 2004;Carver & Harmon-Jones, 2009;Cunningham, 1988Cunningham, , 1988Frijda, 1986Frijda, , 1987Harmon-Jones & Sigelman, 2001;Keltner et al., 1993;Kreibig, 2010;Lench et al., 2011Lench et al., , 2016Levine, 1996;Levine & Pizarro, 2004;Nesse & Ellsworth, 2009;Oatley et al., 2006;Oatley & Duncan, 1994;Roseman, 1996). Closely resembling our three classes of computations, this literature identifies two classes of emotions that are evoked by evident outcomes, and one that is evoked in anticipation of prospective outcomes. ...
Emotions ubiquitously impact action, learning, and perception, yet their essence and role remain widely debated. Recent progress in computational cognitive accounts of emotion promises to answer these questions with greater conceptual precision informed by normative principles and neurobiological data. We analyze this literature using the formalism of reinforcement learning and find that emotions may implement three classes of computations, concerning expected reward, evaluation of actions, and uncertain prospects. With regards to each of these computations, we offer modifications of previous formulations that better account for existing evidence. We then consider how these different computations may map onto different emotions and moods. Integrating extensive research on the causes and consequences of different emotions suggests a parsimonious one-to-one mapping, according to which emotions are integral to how we evaluate outcomes (pleasure & pain), learn to predict them (happiness & sadness), use them to inform our (frustration & content) and others’ (anger & gratitude) actions, and plan in order to realize (desire & hope) or avoid (fear & anxiety) uncertain outcomes.
... Secondly, negative emotional states also appear to increase helping behaviors [26], promote fairness [24] and generosity [27], and facilitate the cohesion of social groups [28]. De Hooge [29] argues that the negative feeling of shame "motivates people to undertake actions to restore the damaged self" and thus behave prosocially. ...
Communication policies employed by policymakers and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) often appeal to the emotions to persuade people to adopt virtuous behavior. The aim of this paper is to study the impact of induced emotions on pro-environmental behavior (PEB). We design a three-stage laboratory experiment. In the first stage, we determine the level of the subjects’ environmental awareness. In the second stage, subjects read scripts that place them in realistic hypothetical scenarios designed to induce specific emotions. We implement a 2 x 2 in-between design by varying both the valence and social dimension of the four emotional states induced: happiness, sadness, pride and shame. In the third stage, subjects play a modified dictator game in which the recipient is an environmental non-governmental organization (ENGO). We show that the emotional states of subjects can influence PEB. In particular, negative emotions significantly reduce the average individual amount of donations made to ENGOs. We also find that the precise impact of the emotional states is more complex and appears to be dependent on individuals’ characteristics and awareness for environmental issues. For instance, in positive emotional states, men donate significantly less than women. In addition, a high level of environmental awareness increases donations in subjects experiencing shame and decreases their likelihood to donate when feeling pride. Also, we observe behavioral consistency for negative emotions and rather compensatory behavior for positive emotions.
... Academic literature has been examining the concept of spousal bereavement for some time. Researchers such as Averill (1968) and Holmes and Rahe (1967) defined the processes of grief and widowhood as experiences and events which are amongst the most distressing a human being can encounter. Despite the extensive nature of interest within this research area, the increase in percentage of older adults worldwide (United Nation Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Dynamics, 2019) justifies that continuous investigation and consolidation of information is required. ...
Research articles examining psychological adjustment to spousal bereavement in older adults (65+) were identified through searches on five electronical databases alongside forward citation and reference list searches. A total of 15 articles involving 686 unique participants were identified. Five characteristics were discovered which can facilitate and inhibit psychological adjustment to spousal bereavement in older adults: the pre-loss spousal relationship, social support, finding meaning and spirituality in loss, the surviving spouse’s personality traits, and death characteristics. These findings support that concepts of ‘meaning making’ and social support should be incorporated into therapeutic work with bereaved spouses to help facilitate psychological adjustment.
... Rando (1984) defined grief as the process of psychological, social, and somatic reactions to the perception of loss. Averill (1968) suggested that grief is a product of biological evolution that has adaptive value. Mitchell and Anderson (1983) referred to grief as "the normal but bewildering cluster of ordinary human emotions arising in response to a significant loss, intensified and complicated by the relationship to the person or the object lost" (p. ...
This article presents a general view of the topic of grief by defining the common terminology, discussing the nature and types of losses, listing the variety of grief reactions, and describing the factors that determine the severity of bereavement. This article also addresses the question of morbidity and mortality of grief, throws a light on the emerging topic of traumatic grief where elements of trauma and a devastating loss are both present, and finally reviews the steps toward healing and grief resolution. Throughout the article, a special emphasis is given to the communal, spiritual, and cultural aspects of mourning and, toward the end, a few suggestions are offered to the caregivers who are involved in grief and bereavement counseling.
... Resonant with recognizing both positive and negative affective components of grief, King (2013) argues that a critical aspect to observing grief-like responses in animals is to consider love-like responses. Notably, theories of human grief hold that it is a process that promotes group cohesion, so is thus socially functional (Averill, 1968;Averill and Nunley, 1988;Bonanno, 2001). Gonçalves and Carvalho (2019) near to the fence, where he could be observed and subsequently retrieved by caregivers. ...
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human-like capacities and traits to non-human entities. Anthropomorphism is ubiquitous in everyday life and in scientific domains, operating both implicitly and explicitly as a function of the human lens through which we view the world. A rich history of work in psychology, animal behavior, cognitive science, and philosophy has highlighted the negative and, to a lesser degree, the positive implications of anthropomorphism. In this article, we aim to provide a nuanced perspective of how anthropomorphism impacts the work of comparative affective science. Specifically, we discuss three domains of empirical inquiry in which lessons can be drawn about the benefits and pitfalls of anthropomorphism: responses to death, inequity aversion, and prosocial behavior. On balance, we advocate a mindful approach to anthropomorphizing in comparative affective science, and comparative science more generally.
... Grief induced dysphoria can contribute to impairment in social functioning, including withdrawal from social life and disinterest in maintaining ongoing relationships or forming new ones (Archer, 1999;Averill, 1968;Schwab, 1992;Shear et al., 2001). Bereaved individuals, moreover, often suffer from sleep disturbances that can jeopardize their health and wellbeing (Hardison, Neimeyer & Lichstein, 2005). ...
Across most of human history, infant and child mortality rates were very high, suggesting the death of a child was a challenge faced by many ancestral parents. Prolonged grief likely harmed grievers’ fitness, yet grief is ubiquitous and often protracted, thereby presenting a puzzle for evolutionary arguments. We integrate existing theories of grief with
patterns of parental bereavement to examine how human psychology has been shaped to respond to the death of a child. We contend that variation in life history strategy may explain the relative difficulty with which individuals recover from losing a child. We propose that the same physiological mechanisms underlying detachment and grief during
dissolved romantic relationships may also underlie the intensity of parental attachment and bereavement. This theoretical review thus integrates evolutionary theory with extant grief research to provide a functional analysis of the immense suffering associated with the loss of a child.
... Although the number of publications has been increasing ( Fig. 1) and serious attempts to review these records have been carried out, they have either confined themselves to chimpanzees (Pettitt, 2011;Hanamura, Kooriyama & Hosaka, 2015), integrated non-primate species with the primate data (Piel & Stewart, 2015;Anderson, 2016), and/or focused on particular aspects such as grief (Pollock, 1961;Averill, 1968;Zeller, 1991;King, 2013); only a few have attempted to synthesise the available primate thanatological data (Box, 1984;Vieira, 1987;Anderson, 2011). Here, we not only discuss new developments in the field, but also look back at the first observations, offering a comprehensive and updated outlook of the death phenomenon among primates and proposing future directions for the emerging field of primate thanatology. ...
For the past two centuries, non‐human primates have been reported to inspect, protect, retrieve, carry or drag the dead bodies of their conspecifics and, for nearly the same amount of time, sparse scientific attention has been paid to such behaviours. Given that there exists a considerable gap in the fossil and archaeological record concerning how early hominins might have interacted with their dead, extant primates may provide valuable insight into how and in which contexts thanatological behaviours would have occurred. First, we outline a comprehensive history of comparative thanatology in non‐human primates, from the earliest accounts to the present, uncovering the interpretations of previous researchers and their contributions to the field of primate thanatology. Many of the typical behavioural patterns towards the dead seen in the past are consistent with those observed today. Second, we review recent evidence of thanatological responses and organise it into distinct terminologies: direct interactions (physical contact with the corpse) and secondary interactions (guarding the corpse, vigils and visitations). Third, we provide a critical evaluation regarding the form and function of the behavioural and emotional aspects of these responses towards infants and adults, also comparing them with non‐conspecifics. We suggest that thanatological interactions: promote a faster re‐categorisation from living to dead, decrease costly vigilant/caregiving behaviours, are crucial to the management of grieving responses, update position in the group's hierarchy, and accelerate the formation of new social bonds. Fourth, we propose an integrated model of Life‐Death Awareness, whereupon neural circuitry dedicated towards detecting life, i.e. the agency system (animate agency, intentional agency, mentalistic agency) works with a corresponding system that interacts with it on a decision‐making level (animate/inanimate distinction, living/dead discrimination, death awareness). Theoretically, both systems are governed by specific cognitive mechanisms (perceptual categories, associative concepts and high‐order reasoning, respectively). Fifth, we present an evolutionary timeline from rudimentary thanatological responses likely occurring in earlier non‐human primates during the Eocene to the more elaborate mortuary practices attributed to genus Homo throughout the Pleistocene. Finally, we discuss the importance of detailed reports on primate thanatology and propose several empirical avenues to shed further light on this topic. This review expands and builds upon previous attempts to evaluate the body of knowledge on this subject, providing an integrative perspective and bringing together different fields of research to detail the evolutionary, sensory/cognitive, developmental and historical/archaeological aspects of primate thanatology. Considering all these findings and given their cognitive abilities, we argue that non‐human primates are capable of an implicit awareness of death.
... The crucial role of grief in maintaining interindividual attachment has been long suggested (Jensen & Tolman, 1962;Schino, D'Amato, & Troisi, 1995). Bowlby (1961) and Averill (1968) have acknowledged the existence of human-like grief behaviors in animals. Repeated visits of MDI4 to the grave of DI4 further depict the adverse consequences of forced separation and the intensity of grief-like distresses in bonnet monkeys (Rosenblum & Youngstein, 1974). ...
Existing models of attachment do not explain how death of offspring affects maternal behavior. Previous descriptions of maternal responsiveness to dead offspring in nonhuman anthropoids have not expounded the wide variation of deceased-infant carrying (DIC) behavior. Through the current study, we attempt to (a) identify determinants of DIC through a systematic survey across anthropoids, (b) quantitatively assess behavioral changes of mother during DIC, and (c) infer death perception of conspecifics. Firstly, we performed phylogenetic regression using duration of DIC as the dependent variable. Secondly, we undertook case studies of DIC in the bonnet monkey and the lion-tailed monkey through behavioral sampling. Results of phylogenetic Generalized Linear Mixed Model (Nspecies = 18; Ncases = 48) revealed a strong homology (H2 = 0.86). We also obtained a high intraspecific variation in DIC and found DIC to be affected by mother’s age, context of death, habitat condition, and degree of arboreality. We found bonnet mothers to carry their deceased offspring for 3.56 ± 4.03 SD days (N = 7) with diminished feeding, enhanced passivity, and social isolation during DIC and progressive decline in protection/attentiveness of corpse and attachment. Following Anderson (2016)’s framework of death perception, we interpreted repeated sensory investigation of corpses by mothers as comprehending causality of death, inanimate handling of corpse and its defense as comprehension of non-functionality, and a progressive disinterest of mothers in them as perceiving irreversibility of death. Lastly, we integrated DIC with mother-infant attachment theories and proposed a conceptual model characterizing DIC with causal determinants.
... Abbreviated grief (Appendix 1a) is a shortlived but normal form of grief. The grieving process is shortened because the role of the deceased animal is immediately filled by another joey, and because there has often been little or no attachment to the deceased animal (Averill 1968;Irving et al. 1999). However, chronic grief (Appendix 1e) is a severe grief reaction that may have features in common with most early stages of grief, but is one that does not abate and can last for an extended period and fail to reach a conclusion. ...
The non-human animal deaths and injuries that result from collisions with motor vehicles are known colloquially as roadkill, and often lead to individuals from various taxa being orphaned. The complexities of multiple spatial and temporal variables in the available data on Australian roadkill and the scale of orphaning and injury make statistical analysis difficult. However, data that offer proxy measures of the roadkill problem suggest a conservative estimate of 4 million Australian mammalian roadkill per year. Also, Australian native mammals are mainly marsupial, so female casualties can have surviving young in their pouches, producing an estimated 560 000 orphans per year. A conservative estimate is that up to 50 000 of these are rescued, rehabilitated and released by volunteer wildlife carers. These roadkill-associated orphans are in addition to those produced by other anthropogenic and natural events and the injured adult animals in the care of volunteers. In accepting total responsibility for rescued animals, wildlife carers face many demands. Their knowledge base can require days of initial instruction with the need for continual updates, and their physical abilities and personal health can be tested by sleepless nights, demanding manual tasks and zoonoses. This review article explores the impact of this commitment and conservatively estimates carers' financial input to raise one joey at approximately $2000 a year, and their time input at 1000 h, equating to $31 000 per year, applying a dollar value of $31 per hour. It categorises relevant types of grief associated with hand-rearing orphans and rehabilitating injured animals, and suggests that wildlife carers most likely experience many types of grief but are also susceptible to burn-out through compassion fatigue. A perceived lack of understanding, empathy and appreciation for their work by government can add to the stressors they face. Volunteering is declining in Australia at 1% per year, social capital is eroding and the human population is aging, while the number of injured and orphaned animals is increasing. Wildlife carers are a strategic national asset, and they need to be acknowledged and supported if their health and the public service they provide is not to be compromised.
... However, a major tragedy in America â€"¿ the Coconut Grove Fire Disaster â€"¿ was to inspire the first such study (Lindemann, 1944). After that, there were a number of helpful descriptive accounts of the impact of bereavement, including those by Langer (1957), Maddison & Walker (1967) and Averill (1968). Nonetheless, these early forays into the field left many questions unanswered and many issues were ignored. ...
When he submitted his dissertation on Morbid Grief Reactions: A Review of the Literature to the University of London in 1959, Parkes made his first major contribution to the study of grief and bereavement. There followed a series of publications (e.g. Parkes, 1965, 1971) which culminated in the first edition of the book reconsidered here. On my first reading of this book, I was reminded of Samuel Johnson's comment that “the two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar, and familiar things new”. Parkes' descriptions of unusual reactions to loss are presented in a fashion which makes them feel reassuringly familiar, and those reactions which are more commonplace are described in a way which requires us to consider them anew.
... This feature might reflect a phenomenological experience of coldness. The experience of dissociation ("coldness") is also a feature of sadness (Andrews & Thomson 2009;Averill 1968;Cunningham 1988) and is not unique to contempt. Generally, emotions are associated with subjective experience (Lench et al. 2011a;Nummenmaa et al. 2014). ...
Insensitive parental thoughts and affect, similar to contempt, may be mapped onto a network of basic emotions moderated by attitudinal representations of social-relational value. Brain mechanisms that reflect emotional valence of baby signals among parents vary according to individual differences and show plasticity over time. Furthermore, mental health problems and treatments for parents may affect these brain systems toward or away from contempt, respectively.
... This feature might reflect a phenomenological experience of coldness. The experience of dissociation ("coldness") is also a feature of sadness (Andrews & Thomson 2009;Averill 1968;Cunningham 1988) and is not unique to contempt. Generally, emotions are associated with subjective experience (Lench et al. 2011a;Nummenmaa et al. 2014). ...
Gervais & Fessler's analysis collapses across two orthogonal dimensions of social value to explain contempt: relational value, predicted by cooperation, and agentic value, predicted by status. These dimensions interact to potentiate specific social emotions and behaviors in intergroup contexts. By neglecting the unique roles of these dimensions – and their associated attributes: warmth and competence – the sentiment framework cedes predictive precision.
... This feature might reflect a phenomenological experience of coldness. The experience of dissociation ("coldness") is also a feature of sadness (Andrews & Thomson 2009;Averill 1968;Cunningham 1988) and is not unique to contempt. Generally, emotions are associated with subjective experience (Lench et al. 2011a;Nummenmaa et al. 2014). ...
The hypothesis of a phylogenetic connection between protorespect in primate dominance hierarchies and respect in human prestige hierarchies lies in the principle that dominance is a domain of competence like others and, hence, that high-ranking primates have protoprestige . The idea that dominant primates manifest protocontempt to subordinates suggests that “looking down on” followers is intrinsic to leadership in humans, but that the expression of contempt varies critically in relation to the socioecological context.
... This feature might reflect a phenomenological experience of coldness. The experience of dissociation ("coldness") is also a feature of sadness (Andrews & Thomson 2009;Averill 1968;Cunningham 1988) and is not unique to contempt. Generally, emotions are associated with subjective experience (Lench et al. 2011a;Nummenmaa et al. 2014). ...
The phylogenetically ancient neuropeptide oxytocin has been linked to a plethora of social behaviors. Here, we argue that the action of oxytocin is not restricted to the downstream level of emotional responses, but substantially alters higher representations of attitudes and values by exerting a distant modulatory influence on cortical areas and their reciprocal interplay with subcortical regions and hormonal systems.
... This feature might reflect a phenomenological experience of coldness. The experience of dissociation ("coldness") is also a feature of sadness (Andrews & Thomson 2009;Averill 1968;Cunningham 1988) and is not unique to contempt. Generally, emotions are associated with subjective experience (Lench et al. 2011a;Nummenmaa et al. 2014). ...
The target article argues that contempt is a sentiment, and that sentiments are the deep structure of social affect. The 26 commentaries meet these claims with a range of exciting extensions and applications, as well as critiques. Most significantly, we reply that construction and emergence are necessary for, not incompatible with, evolved design, while parsimony requires explanatory adequacy and predictive accuracy, not mere simplicity.
... This feature might reflect a phenomenological experience of coldness. The experience of dissociation ("coldness") is also a feature of sadness (Andrews & Thomson 2009;Averill 1968;Cunningham 1988) and is not unique to contempt. Generally, emotions are associated with subjective experience (Lench et al. 2011a;Nummenmaa et al. 2014). ...
Prejudice, like contempt, is a general evaluation rather than a specific emotion. I explore the idea that emotions and attitudes are conceptually distinct by applying Gervais & Fessler's model to the intergroup context. I argue that prejudice is an affective representation of a social group's relational value (friend or foe) and dispute the idea that there are many distinct prejudices.
... This feature might reflect a phenomenological experience of coldness. The experience of dissociation ("coldness") is also a feature of sadness (Andrews & Thomson 2009;Averill 1968;Cunningham 1988) and is not unique to contempt. Generally, emotions are associated with subjective experience (Lench et al. 2011a;Nummenmaa et al. 2014). ...
In the Attitude–Scenario–Emotion (ASE) model, social relationships are subpersonally realized by sentiments: a network of emotions/attitudes representing relational values. We discuss how relational values differ from moral values and raise the issue of their ontogeny from genetic and cultural factors. Because relational values develop early in life, they cannot rely solely on cognition as suggested by the notion of attitude.
... Now it is seen as important to consider the significant role which culture plays in grieving, which may include the concept of continuing bonds. Averill (1968) was an early proponent of culture in grieving, and Doka and Davidson (1998) have brought culture clearly into the centre of the grieving process. Bowlby (1980), from an attachment perspective, elaborated upon in the next section, concluded that a continued sense of the presence of the deceased is present in many healthy bereaved individuals, stating: 'Failure to recognise that a continuing sense of the dead person's presence, either as a constant companion or in some specific and appropriate location, is a common feature of healthy mourning that has led to much confused theorising' (p. ...
Current theories regarding grief and mourning often acknowledge continued connection and reworking of the relationship to the lost person rather than relinquishing ties and bonds, and acknowledge the importance of culture in grief and mourning. Although there is little research regarding Italian-Americans and grieving, these ideas fit well with the description described by researchers as ‘Italians tend to keep their dead with them’. This paper explores Italian-American responses to the loss of a loved one. It comprises a brief summary of relevant literature around grieving, followed by an overview of themes from Italian traditions and culture that inform our thinking about Italian-Americans and grief. The authors, as participants in both the culture and the experience of grief, briefly situate themselves vis-à-vis these experiences. Three segments then illustrate our concepts of continued bonds and reworking relationships: a pilot study of Italian-Americans’ experiences of loss and grieving over time, a normative case study of one woman’s creative, ongoing response to major loss, and the importance of objects after loss from a research project of daughters who have lost their dads. Conclusions focus on the importance and complexity of mourning; the centrality of relationship; the use of symbol, ritual and meaning-making; and development of resiliency, for Italian-Americans and perhaps other groups.
... Although the internal experiences of animals cannot be directly accessed, thereby rendering elusive any proof that animals experience a similar emotional experience of grief to humans, the methodologies described above have evidenced similarities in behavioural, physiological and neuroanatomical responses to separation [20,21], suggesting that some animals may have the capacity to experience negative feelings as a result of the loss of a conspecific [22]. From an evolutionary perspective grief may have evolved from a stress reaction in response to separation from companions, thereby acting to maintain group cohesion in social species [23]. ...
The loss of a companion animal is recognised as being associated with experiences of grief by the owner, but it is unclear how other animals in the household may be affected by such a loss. Our aim was to investigate companion animals' behavioural responses to the loss of a companion through owner-report. A questionnaire was distributed via, and advertised within, publications produced by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) across Australia and New Zealand, and through a selection of veterinary clinics within New Zealand. A total of 279 viable surveys were returned pertaining to 159 dogs and 152 cats. The two most common classes of behavioural changes reported for both dogs and cats were affectionate behaviours (74% of dogs and 78% of cats) and territorial behaviours (60% of dogs and 63% of cats). Both dogs and cats were reported to demand more attention from their owners and/or display affiliative behaviour, as well as spend time seeking out the deceased's favourite spot. Dogs were reported to reduce the volume (35%) and speed (31%) of food consumption and increase the amount of time spent sleeping (34%). Cats were reported to increase the frequency (43%) and volume (32%) of vocalisations following the death of a companion. The median duration of reported behavioural changes in both species was less than 6 months. There was consensus that the behaviour of companion animals changed in response to the loss of an animal companion. These behavioural changes suggest the loss had an impact on the remaining animal.
... Nevertheless, for the arousal and exhibition of this phenomenon the competing subdivisions of the ANS either overlap for some period of time or there is a period of autonomic equilibrium that serves probably as an emotional transitory period from distress to physiological restoration. Both the arousal and the physiological recovery view fail to explain the functional social importance of crying [34][35][36][37]. Crying seems to have a beneficial psychophysiological effect as it reduces tension while achieving organismic homeostasis by replacing sympathetic with parasympathetic activity [23]. ...
Sympathy crying is an odd and complex mixture of physiological and emotional phenomena. Standard psychophysiological theories of emotion cannot attribute crying to a single subdivision of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and disagreement exists regarding the emotional origin of sympathy crying. The current experiment examines sympathy crying using functional thermal infrared imaging (FTII), a novel contactless measure of ANS activity. To induce crying female participants were given the choice to decide which film they wanted to cry to. Compared to baseline, temperature started increasing on the forehead, the peri-orbital region, the cheeks and the chin before crying and reached even higher temperatures during crying. The maxillary area showed the opposite pattern and a gradual temperature decrease was observed compared to baseline as a result of emotional sweating. The results suggest that tears of sympathy are part of a complex autonomic interaction between the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems, with the latter preceding the former. The emotional origin of the phenomenon seems to derive from subjective internal factors that relate to one’s personal experiences and attributes with tears arising in the form of catharses or as part of shared sadness.
... While scholars, practitioners, and the public may presume there is something invariantly biological about grieving, grief is shaped by the social context in which it occurs. 17 There are striking cultural similarities in grieving. For example, in virtually all cultures most people seem to grieve the loss of somebody close to them. ...
... This feature might reflect a phenomenological experience of coldness. The experience of dissociation ("coldness") is also a feature of sadness (Andrews & Thomson 2009;Averill 1968;Cunningham 1988) and is not unique to contempt. Generally, emotions are associated with subjective experience (Lench et al. 2011a;Nummenmaa et al. 2014). ...
Gervais and Fessler argue the perceived legitimacy of contempt has declined over time in the US, citing evidence of a decrease in the frequency of its use in the American English corpus. We argue that this decline in contempt, as reflected in cultural products, is linked to shifts in key socio-ecological features previously associated with other forms of cultural change.
Bereavement is the process of suffering that follows the loss of a living being that is significant to someone. When one suffers, she or he has to endure an unpleasant experience, in the case of bereavement, the loss of something special to the person. This loss most often is a loved one but could also include the loss of a pet, relationship, or physical or mental capability.
This book explores traumatic loss, grief, and recovery through the thoughtful combination of Abraham & Torok’s ‘crypt’ theory, Jungian thought, and film theory to guide readers through the darkest places of the human psyche.
Focusing on both the destructive and reconstructive choices people can make, the book explores prolonged grief disorder, complicated mourning, post-traumatic stress disorder, embitterment, disenfranchised grief, trauma-related rumination as well as mental, emotional and physical pain. Presented with real life examples and fictional ones, the book connects the psychoanalytic concepts of intrapsychic tomb and theoretra with Jungian concepts such as teleological model of the psyche, dreams, alchemical operations, shadow, archetypes, enantiodromia, symbols, and compensation on the canvas of modern grief theory.
Traumatic Loss and Recovery in Jungian Studies and Cinema is important reading for psychoanalysts, Jungian analysts, and psychotherapists with an interest in popular culture, as well as cinema students, scholars, and general readers interested in psychology, counselling, mental health and media studies.
The main focus of this chapter is on the individual context or micro factors shaping the life strategies of migrants. Through the lens of people’s retrospective reflections and memory of their lives before migration, this chapter examines how ‘survival migrants’ and ‘achievement migrants’ narrated their responses to the regime changes in Ukraine and the effects it had on their aims, values, needs, agency and decision to migrate. Important part of the discussion evolves around why migrants from Ukraine chose Australia as opposed to the USA, Canada and Western European countries. The chapter illustrates how the narratives of reasons behind migration and analysis of the four key building life strategy elements (aims, values, needs and sense of agency) enables the mapping of the different responses to regime crisis/transitions in Ukraine across the two cohorts of ‘survival’ and ‘achievement’ migrants.
Topic: The application of African mourning rituals within the Drama therapy space in order to support responses to loss. PLAIGIARISM DECLARATION I hereby, declare that this essay serves as evidence of my own work. Any thoughts I have borrowed, I have properly quoted and referenced. The application of African mourning rituals within the Drama therapy space in order to support responses to loss. iii DEDICATION This research is dedicated to all those who have had to deal with the adverse effects of loss in their lifetime. Your tenacity and hunger to rise up again and show up for your lives is truly inspiring, living up to the true essence of being human. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This study investigated the perception of death by the bereaved, the process of mourning and grief, the psychological and social malfunctioning which arise as a result of bereavement and the process of ‘grief work’ and the coping ability displayed by various victims of bereavement, particularly widow/ers. The study employed the instrumentation of quantitative and qualitative research strategy to gather relevant data from the study. The data were analysed using the appropriate statistical methods. Results obtained from the research study revealed major findings in support of the psychological and social dysfunctions that arise as a result of the loss of a spouse, but no significant difference existed between the coping strategies adopted by both middle aged and old aged widows. However a significant difference existed in the coping abilities of the middle age and old age widow/ers. Similarly, a significant gender variation was recorded in the coping abilities of the old age widow/ers. Widow/ers did express conviction that the coping strategy adopted by them actually worked and were therefore considered effective. Recommendations were made for further research activities in the study area.
Contempt shares its features with other emotions, indicating that there is no justification for creating “sentiment” as a new category of feelings. Scientific categories must be created or updated on the basis of evidence. Building a new category on the currently limited contempt literature would be akin to building a house on sand – likely to fall at any moment.
All individuals are likely to experience some form of loss during the course of their lives; it is part of the human condition. However, responses to loss vary across individuals, religions, and cultures. This chapter explores various traditions’ concepts of life and death, drawing and expanding upon concepts initially introduced in Chap. 6. Clinical examples are provided of the exploration of spiritual and/or religious beliefs with clients towards the end of life.
In the present chapter the application of cognitive-behavior therapy to the treatment of those who have experienced the death of a loved one is outlined. A cognitive-behavioral approach is of particular value in the treatment of the bereaved because of the focus on personal meaning—in this case, the personal meaning of the loss to the bereaved. Depending upon individual circumstances, this focus on personal meaning may take one or more forms. First, it may involve exploration of the bereaved’s appraisal of the past, present, and hoped-for future relationship with the deceased. Second, it may entail the exploration of the bereaved’s expectations with regard to his/her understanding of the grief process. Finally, focus on personal meaning may involve exploration of the meaning of the loss and its impact on the survivor’s self-concept. Each of these foci receive more or less attention in therapy, depending upon the nature of the grief reaction and the therapist’s conceptualization of the key therapeutic issues that warrant consideration.
A number of behavior therapists have proposed that depression results when a discriminative stimulus or reinforcer for behavior is removed. It is proposed here that the depressed person's general loss of interest in his environment suggests that there is a loss of reinforcer effectiveness. The manner in which environmental events, including the loss of a reinforcer, may result in this general loss of reinforcer effectiveness is discussed. The possible evolutionary significance of depression is also briefly discussed.
: This is one of a series of studies being made to investigate the relationship of "separation and depression" to the onset of medical disease. In this report a group of 42 semiprivate hospitalized medical patients between the ages of 18 and 45 was studied for predisease setting based on reported object-relationship changes and reported and observed major affective reactions to such changes. Twenty-nine patients and/or family members reported loss of an object and feelings of helplessness and hopelessness immediately preceding the onset of the symptoms of the illness which led to hospitalization. Five patients reported feelings of helplessness or hopelessness prior to the onset of symptoms but reported no loss of an object. In 41 of the 42 patients the investigator felt that there was verbal and/or nonverbal evidence for the interpretation of actual, threatened, or symbolic object loss as well as evidence for feelings of helplessness or hopelessness prior to the onset of disease. Thirty-one patients developed the onset of their disease within one week after what was considered the final or only change in relationship to which the patient experienced a feeling of helplessness or hopelessness. Early life losses or threats of loss, past conflicts reawakened or still unresolved, and the incidence of past separations preceding changes in past health of this group of patients were also reported. "Separation and depression" as defined refers to the psychic pattern of unsuccessful resolution of object loss. Starting with a change in a relationship, this concept involves the actual or fantasied loss of an object upon which the self has real or symbolic dependence and includes the attempts and final failures to reestablish or give up the lost or threatened relationship, as evidenced by feelings of helplessness or hopelessness. Case examples are appended to illustrate how the setting of the current disease onset was reported and how the investigator made his interpretations of this material. Copyright (C) 1958 by American Psychosomatic Society
A review of clinical, experimental, and field research on stress, together with the author's own research, provides the background for a theory that emphasizes the importance of cognitive processes. Harvard Book List (edited) 1971 #370 (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This book presents a group of interrelated hypotheses in regard to "activation" based in the main upon studies of muscle tension, EEG, electrical resistance of the skin, and such other measures of autonomic reactivity as heart rate, blood pressure, respiration rate, etc. 6 chapters are devoted to a discussion of the concept of activation, 2 chapters to the effects of variations in activation upon sensory and performance measures, and 3 chapters to the effects of individual differences in activation particularly related to the behavioral correlates of these individual differences. (41-page bibliogr.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A report is made of a series of experiments covering a 2-year period carried out at Harvard University with a group of college men with a focus on the way they reacted to new and difficult situations. In addition to the laboratory stress data, a great variety of personality studies, psychological and sociological, were analyzed and a theoretical framework was developed for organizing all these data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
THE UNPLEASANT STATE INDUCED BY BEING IN AN UNFAMILIAR LOCATION WITH NO CONTACT WITH FAMILIAR PERSONS OR OBJECTS IS SUGGESTED AS "THE UNDERLYING PROCESS IN THE PHENOMENON OF PRIMARY SOCIALIZATION IN THE DOG." THE TYPE OF STUDY REPORTED ON YOUNG PUPPIES IS RECOMMENDED FOR THE STUDY OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AS AN AID TO "PREVENTIVE MENTAL HYGIENE." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The concept of "emotion-as-motivation" is challenged on theoretical and empirical grounds and emotion as a response is offered as the alternative. Theoretical relations between the "intertwined concepts" of adaptation and emotion are discussed. Emotion is "said to flow from appraisal processes by which the person or infrahuman animal evaluated the adaptive significance of the stimulus." A review of empirical research on emotion involving appraisal and reappraisal of threat under laboratory conditions is presented. (132 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
An emotion can hardly be defined by specifying the stimuli evoking it; nor can it be defined in terms of the responses evoked. An emotion is a response affecting, or calculated to affect, the stimulus-situation. Thus, if we examine the data of Watson's classical study, the response is protection from the stimulus in the case of fear, destruction of the stimulus in the case of anger, encouragement or enticement of the stimulus in the case of love. The account of emotion turns out to be behavioristic whether we study introspecting or nonintrospecting organisms. From Psych Bulletin 21:03:00225. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Current theories of motivation are examined and found wanting in certain respects. Most of man's behavior is to be explained in terms of a rule-following purposive model which follows Aristotle more closely than it follows Freudian theory, drive theory, or modern hedonism. 46 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
No one yet knows how profoundly the assassination of President Kennedy altered the future course of history, but it certainly was an extremely significant event internationally as well as domestically. Its immediate effects on the American people are also of considerable importance, reflecting as they do the attitudes of the people toward their President and the emotional reactions to such an assassination. They are also important as a demonstration of the speed that characterizes modern communication.
: The reaction to removal of the mother was studied in 4 group-living pigtail monkey infants. All showed distress, with 3 progressing to a state of deep depression similar to the anaclitic depression of human infants following separation, as described by Spitz. The only infant not showing deep depression was the offspring of the dominant female. The stages of reaction are seen as successive efforts at adaptation based on available response systems, evolved for their selective advantage or developed ontogenetically, especially through dominance-hierarchical regulatory influences. In this regard the reactions have apparent survival value, in part through their communicative significance. Monkey infants have a greater chance of survival without a mother figure than humans because of their greater locomotor ability, which appeared to initiate recovery from the depressed state. The data support Engel's theory of two primitive biological response systems for handling distress, each with a mediating neural organization. Copyright (C) 1967 by American Psychosomatic Society
Available data support the empirical generalization that animals tend to remain in the presence of objects to which they have been continuously exposed. From such observations, and certain assumptions of associative learning theory, it is proposed that mammalian attachment behavior is determined by: (1) the length of association with an object in a given context, and (2) the relative cue weight of the object. The model emphasizes the associative nature of the attachment process, the contextual and response relativity of attachment behavior, and the role of the immediate stimulus setting in the control of an animal's response subsystems. (3 p. ref.)
Detailed longitudinal psychiatric and endocrine observations are reported on 6 women receiving psychotherapy for reactive depressions. The authors hypothe- sized that confrontation of the precipitating loss during psychotherapy would be transiently more painful to the patient than the previous organized depressive equilibrium state. It was therefore predicted that corticosteroid excretion, as an index of emotional distress, would be highest during the period of confrontation of loss. (Psychiatric judgments were made independent of endocrine data.) The hypothesis was supported to the p < 0.005 level for the group of 6 pa- tients. Corticosteroid elevations during periods of confrontation of loss averaged 36% above levels for depressive equilibrium periods. The significance of the findings is discussed in terms of psychoanalytic theories of depressive illness, particularly the concept "primary" or "essential" depressive experience as distinguished from the secondary depressive symptom syndrome. A model for the psychoendocrine "course" of reactive depressions is proposed. Psychosomatic and psychotherapeutic implications are also considered.
Our human intellect has resulted from an enormous leap in capacity above the level of monkeys and apes. Earlier, though, Old and New World monkeys' intelligence outdistanced that of other mammals, including the prosimian primates. This first great advance in intelligence probably was selected through interspecific competition on the large continents. However, even at this early stage, primate social life provided the evolutionary context of primate intelligence. Two arguments support this conclusion. One is ontogenetic: modern monkeys learn so much of their social behavior, and learn their behavior toward food and toward other species through social example. The second is phylogenetic: some prosimians, the social lemurs, have evolved the usual primate type of society and social learning without the capacity to manipulate objects as monkeys do. It thus seems likely that the rudiments of primate society preceded the growth of primate intelligence, made it possible, and determined its nature.
Clinical experience and studies of heredity indicate that the etiology of the manic-depressive illness is physiologic. Examination of the possible sites of the physiopathology implicates diencephalic-rhinencephalic-reticular brain systems. It is the secondary involvement of the cerebral cortex that results in psychopathology. Psychodynamic mechanisms use the patient's experiences and reaction patterns in the formation of symptoms. As the physiopathology spontaneously improves, so do the symptoms.
: Seven healthy volunteers were the subjects of 78 experiments during which the psychological and physiological data were collected and recorded in a standardized manner. Each experiment consisted of 5 equal periods (phases) of 30 min. during 3 of which the subjects were, and in 2 were not, hypnotized. Five categories of affective responses were operationally defined and shown statistically to provide a reliable means of identifying "anger," "anxiety," "contentment," "depression," and "helplessness-hopelessness." Statistical analyses of the group results demonstrated a positive correlation between the secretory rate of total gastric acid and the coincident dominant affective response, the secretory rate being highest with "anger" and lowest with "helplessness-hopelessness." Similar trends were apparent in 12 control experiments during which hypnosis was not induced. The design also was shown to provide a reliable method for the differential evocation of affective responses experimentally. Copyright (C) 1963 by American Psychosomatic Society
It is believed by many that the neural engram undergoes a consolidated phase after a learning trial. During this phase the engram is particularly susceptible to disruption by traumatic incidents. A review of the literature on electroconvulsive shock (ECS) provides little, if any, support for this point of view. ECS does, however, result in retrograde amnesia (RA). If the RA is not due to disruption of a consolidation process, then what are its sources? The writers interpret the literature to mean the ECS produces an inhibition of the Pavlovian variety which follows the known laws of learning and becomes conditioned to stimuli of the ECS situation. This point of view is shown adequate to explain much of the data produced by ECS studies and is consistent with other interpretations of the effects of massive stimulus discharges. (2-p. ref.)
Activation is a function of cortical excitation from the ascending reticular activating system (ARAS). Up to an optimum the correlated performance level increases, further activation reduces the performance level. Activation, a quantifiable dimension, is a product of internal and external conditions. Compared with emotion it is broader, a phenomenon of slow changes and drifts. It lacks a directing influence upon behavior. More research is needed since it appears that activation has wide application to clinical phenomena. (47 ref.)
From the point of view of exact diagnosis perhaps no psychiatric condition is as unsatisfactory as depression. It can be a symptom or a diagnosis. It is recognized as a normal mood. There is even considerable variation in the diagnostic use of the term. The diagnoses manic-depressive psychosis, involutional depression, reactive depression, neurotic depression, etc., are still widely used, even though they no longer have official standing. To add to the semantic confusion, it must be admitted that the diagnosis of depression in psychiatry is still largely impressionistic and lacks precision. The psychiatrist bases his clinical opinion on a careful evaluation of the history, the complaints, the appearance of the patient, the course under observation or treatment, psychological tests, and intuition.
As bad as this state of affairs is, the diagnosis of suicide risk is even worse. Here even educated guessing it notoriously fallible
When under stress induced by experimental stimuli, both healthy persons and patients with irritable colon may show disturbances in motility and engorgement of the sigmoid colon coincident with periods of emotional tension. Two patterns of altered sigmoid motility have been recognized: the one an increase in tone and/or wave-like contractions associated with overt moods of hostility and aggression; the other a decrease in tone and/or contractions associated with overt behavior symbolizing hopelessness and defeat. A possible relationship of these patterns to the mechanisms of spastic constipation and functional diarrhea is discussed.
Substantial advances have been made in recent years with respect to theories of learning and motivation, but the phenomena of emotion have not, as a rule, been considered in these formulations The aims of the present paper are (1) to indicate what appear to be the essential requirements of an adequate theory of emotion (or emotions), (2) to consider the implications of these requirements for certain traditional problems of emotion, (3) to examine briefly some current treatments of emotion in the light of these requirements, and (4) to illustrate the proposed method of conceptualization by presenting the outlines of both a "nonemotional' and an "emotional' theory of behavioral phenomena commonly ascribed to anger or frustration." 46-item bibliography.
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