Thursday's Therapy -10 Major Reactions Physically Indicative of Responses to Stress After Your Child's Traumatic Death ~Therese A. Rando, Ph.D. Part 9

Angie, Dr. Therese Rando, and Tommy, July 2010

Thursday's Therapy

10 Major Reactions Physically Indicative of

Responses to Stress

After Your Child's Traumatic Death

~Therese A. Rando, Ph.D., Complicated Mourning, Part Nine

10 Major Reactions Physically Indicative of Responses to Stress After Your Child's Traumatic Death

• Reduced immune response
  
• General feeling of being unwell (more on this another time...)
• Constellation of vague, diffuse physical complaints, sometimes experienced in waves lasting minutes to hours or as diverse aches and pains
• Distressing physical reactions when exposed to
• reminders of the loved one (see our comment below),
• the death,
• events associated with it, and/or
• other painful reactions to the loss
  

• Increased vulnerability to illness and/or physical risk
  
• Gastrointestinal Symptoms
• Cardiopulmonary symptoms
• Symptoms that appear to be neurological in nature, but aren't
• Hair loss
• Pain

Rando, 2011 (In Press)

We are sensitized to what we see of hers each and every day. We have all numbers of her pictures placed out in our den, our living room, our bedroom, etc. But when we step into the "play room" downstairs and move a few things around, invariably we will stumble across a completely different photo of her, and it can bring us to our knees. We experience an immediate pain~the reality of her absence stabs us in the heart~ It's like a blatant reminder of The Presence of her Absence and it kills us all over again...

Next week, we will attempt to discuss some of the Spiritual Effects of our child's traumatic death. We welcome you to email us at mothergrieving (at) gmail (dot) com to share some spiritual impacts of your child's death on you before we write these up next Thursday. We look forward to hearing from you!

Meanwhile, may our Lord's tender presence be with you as He holds you in His arms, ever catching your tears into His nail-scarred hands, so scarred out of His love for you and for your beloved child.

Picture and Content: From workshop of Therese A. Rando, Ph.D, BCETS, BCBT July 9-10, 2010 in "Clinical Interventions in Grief and Mourning," and "Intervening After Sudden and Traumatic Death: Contending with a Special Type of Complicated Mourning," used with permission of the author