When someone close to us dies, the normal experience of grief is a deep sadness, a yearning for the deceased, often loneliness and a need to reach out for comfort. There may be initial shock and an inability to comprehend the reality of the loss, raw anguish, and perhaps anger, at being left behind, or an irrational guilt about being alive instead. Over time, the pain lessens and the sense of loss fades into a realistic acceptance that life has to go on.
A person suffering from traumatic grief will experience much of this as well. This type of grief can occur when the death has been outside normal human experience, horrific to the person experiencing the loss, particularly if witnessed directly. The unexpected, sudden loss of a child or any close relative or friend because of an event such as sudden illness, a shocking accident, suicide or murder, whether directly experienced or not, can result in traumatic grief, a grief compounded by a post-traumatic stress condition (PTSD). In addition to a normal grief response, the person can feel prolonged numbness, disbelief, a loss of trust in people and hopelessness about the future. These states can last for many years. Many of the symptoms associated with PTSD may appear: hypervigilance; depressed mood; problems controlling emotions; distressing flashbacks; and difficulties in interpersonal relationships. They last for more than 2 months after the death. Left untreated and unrecognized, traumatic grief can have profound and lasting negative effects on the lives of sufferers and their relationships.
