Researchers have studied how everyday behaviors can help a person cope with the loss of a loved one.
- For 50% of French people, it is impossible to recover from bereavement, according to a 2019 survey.
- However, this study shows that certain everyday activities can help a person overcome the loss of a loved one.
- These activities include spending time with family and getting enough sleep at night.
One in two French people believe “that we do not recover from bereavement”, according to a national survey carried out in 2019 by the CREDOC (Research center for the study and observation of living conditions). What is it really? Can we overcome this ordeal? The answer is yes, according to a group of researchers at North Carolina State University (NC State), which shows that some simple activities can help people improve their daily mood and emotional well-being after traumatic loss of a loved one. Their work was published in the journal of the International Association of Analytical Psychology on January 26, 2024.
Can certain daily activities improve our mood?
“We were conducting a larger study on how everyday behaviors affect emotional well-being and daily functioning, and we realized that a significant number of study participants were dealing with the traumatic loss of a loved one. Dear”, explains Shevaun Neupert in advance, professor of psychology at NC State and corresponding author of this new research. “This gave us the opportunity to better understand how daily behaviors following loss can influence our emotional well-being.”
To carry out their work, the researchers analyzed data from 440 American adults aged 50 to 85, including 356 who reported the traumatic loss of a loved one. “The premature or traumatic death of close friends or family members is emotionally taxing, and dealing with grief can be difficult“, recalls Caitlin Reynolds, co-author of the study and holder of a doctorate in psychology.
Volunteers were asked to keep a daily diary for 14 consecutive days, answering various questions designed to spot changes in their daily experiences and how this might affect their mood. “The survey questions also helped us gather information related to subjective age, or how older adults report feeling every day”, adds the expert. “Do they feel older than they actually are? Younger ? And what does this have to do with their mood or emotional well-being?“
Results : “Our study suggests that there are specific things people can do to boost their emotional well-being after a traumatic loss.”
5 activities to cope with a traumatic loss
Researchers found that a variety of activities were able to improve mood and well-being, including:
-Accomplish a task
-Get enough sleep
-Dining outside
-Visit, telephone or write to a friend
-Spend time with family
“The improvements were beneficial for everyone”, specifies Professor Neupert, regardless of the socio-economic status of the participants, their age and the age at which they first experienced a traumatic loss. “But there are some nuances not only about who is most affected, but also when the enhancements are most powerful. For example, we found that the positive effect of improvements was more pronounced among people who had suffered a traumatic loss, and particularly on days when they reported feeling older.”