Proceedings, Oxford, UK (2002) - World Federation of Music Therapy

Responses to Grief and Bereavement:
The responses of the bereaved, and the experience, intensity and
duration of grief may vary greatly from person to person, and culture to
culture. Reimers (2001) describes grief as a social phenomenon in which
the individual’s experience of grief, and their responses to bereavement
are not only felt, but performed within their social context. This context
shapes both the responses of the bereaved, and the responses of society
towards the bereaved, so that each works in counterpoint with the other,
employing time-honoured traditions and rituals, behaviours and
responses that are deemed to be appropriate and acceptable within a
particular context.
Shaped by cultural and social conceptualisations of death and
bereavement, individuals may experience widely ranging emotional
responses to bereavement, including numbness, anger, sadness, guilt,
loneliness, and relief. Grief may also be experienced physically as pain
(such as headaches), appetite and sleep disturbances, exhaustion, loss of
concentration and memory, and confusion. As time passes, the bereaved
begin to return to normal routines and functioning, making necessary
decisions and changes in their lives and loosening emotional ties with the
deceased so that eventually new attachments can be formed (Bowlby,
1980; Parkes, 1986). Whilst there is no set pattern to the experience of
grief, K¸bler-Ross (1975) found that the process of accepting death -
either for the dying or the bereaved - could be divided into the five stages
of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Similarly,
Bowlby (1980) and Parkes (1986) divided the experience of bereavement
into three phases consisting of shock; working through the pain; and
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