Abstract
With multiple deaths, people die from a similar cause, at the same location and within the same time frame (e.g., mass killing or a disaster). However, multiple deaths could occur at intervals of time, at different locations, but within a relatively short period of time (e.g., multiple killings occurring in a city within a day). Several factors contribute to multiple deaths including accident, disease/pandemic, natural disaster, mass shooting/mass killing, and terrorism. Others are genocide, famine, and copy-cat suicide. Compared to survivors of singular deaths, survivors of multiple deaths could perceive unfairness in their situation. Multiple deaths could be overwhelming, especially when not spaced apart, and could delay or halt one grief for the start of another, leading to stifled grief. Multiple deaths also could create the feeling of helplessness in the survivors, and if poorly handled could result in suicide.
A deceased-focused approach to mourning would do the following:
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The survivor’s attention would shift to the deceased, thereby reducing the overwhelming impact of multiple losses on the bereaved
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By dwelling on oneself (the bereaved), multiple losses could result in learned helpless.
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By doing what is perceived as pleasing to the deceased, the survivor’s mood and well-being would improve, as giving unto others (the deceased) would bring about intrinsic joy and happiness to the giver. Multiple deaths provide more opportunities to give, but boundaries need to be set not to over-extend in giving.
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Doing what is perceived as pleasing to the deceased is an exercise of cognitive control which would limit the feelings of learned helplessness and help to prevent suicidal ideations.
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Additional Readings
Queen City Hospice. (n.d.). What is cumulative grief? https://www.queencityhospice.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cumulative-grief-handout.pdf
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Eyetsemitan, F.E. (2022). Deceased-Focused Mourning in Multiple Deaths. In: The Deceased-focused Approach to Grief . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98245-4_12
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