Saturday, March 14, 2009

Heightened Grief In Extremely Stressful Times

These are difficult times. There have been other times of difficulty, of course. Right now, given the enormous collapse - it's hard to over state the situation - of the world's economies, there is new suffering of a magnitude which is unprecedented certainly in my lifetime. Not tens, or scores, or hundreds, or even thousands, but many hundreds of thousands, or even millions of ordinary Americans have lost, or will lose their jobs and/or their homes. I don't know where they are exactly. Are they living with more fortunate relatives? Are they in homeless shelters? Are they on the streets? Remember, we're talking about entire families, including the sick and the very young.

These are the kinds of situations that we, in this country, are more accustomed to hearing about existing in other places in the world, places usually far distant from us, either geographically or at least psychologically. People old enough to have lived through the Great Depression of the thirties will of course feel not-so-distant from current events. For the rest of us though, how are we effected now by what's going on all around us, even if we ourselves have not yet been directly affected in the most challenging ways?

One of the effects, for those who are sensitive enough, or self-aware enough to recognize it, is an experience of heightened grief. For others, even if they are not aware of it, there is, without doubt, a "subterranean" (ie., unconscious) exposure to more fear, more loss, and more grief.

Not being aware of this however usually means that these emotional experiences play themselves out in ways that might be unrecognizable as what they really are. For example, people will somaticize their fear or grief, so that they develop physical symptoms in place of clear emotional experiences. Or, some people will express a lot more anger, when what's actually happening on a deeper level is fear or grief, which goes unidentified and unacknowledged, as well as unresolved.

I'd like to encourage everyone to recognize the unusually intensified emotional and psychological stresses that we are all subject to in these times, and to be certain to find or create the best possible networks of support that they can.

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