Mobile grieving is a lengthy process experienced by those who have lost someone to a traumatic injury, such as a brain injury. It can be chronic and unpredictable, with medical mishaps causing sudden regressions. The stress of caring for an impaired family member can be intense, and support is needed. Mobile mourning has been recognized for centuries, but it wasn’t until the late 20th century that healthcare professionals began to take steps to help people deal with it.
The term “mobile grieving” is used to describe the lengthy grieving process experienced by survivors of someone who has experienced a traumatic and life-changing injury. Most commonly, people discuss mobile bereavement in the context of traumatic brain injury, as such injuries can be very stressful for the injured person’s family members and loved ones. A growing recognition of the stress and pain associated with the often nebulous and uncertain prognoses associated with such injuries has led to increased support for people who may be experiencing mobile bereavement.
This term was coined in 1984 by researchers Muir and Halley, in the course of research on rehabilitation, loss and family tension. It is also sometimes referred to as chronic pain or recurring sadness, in reference to the fact that mobile grieving can go on for an extended period of time and can come and go in waves as people adjust to changes in their loved ones. Mobile mourning can also be influenced by medical mishaps; for example, someone with a traumatic brain injury might get better for a while and then suddenly experience a regression.
When someone suffers a traumatic brain injury, the prognosis is often uncertain because the brain is extremely delicate and unpredictable. For family members, this can be extremely stressful, as they may not know whether the patient will live or die and what he will be like when he comes out of crisis. This is typically the beginning of mobile mourning, as people realize that the patient will never be the same if they recover, and that dramatic changes may be on the way.
Once someone with a traumatic injury is dragged through the crisis state, the moving mourning often continues as people come to realize the patient’s new limitations. The patient may need a lot of assistance, for example, to perform basic tasks, and the patient’s speech, reasoning and comprehension skills may be limited by the brain injury. For family caregivers, the stress of caregiving is compounded by the fact that they are caring for a deeply impaired family member, and this can be a very intense experience.
Some form of mobile mourning has obviously been recognized for centuries, as numerous discussions of parents caring for injured children and family members caring for each other when they are injured indicate. Parents of sick children, for example, have historically been portrayed as being in a constant state of mourning as they deal with illness. However, it wasn’t until the late 20th century that chronic pain was formally recognized and healthcare professionals began to take steps to help people deal with it.
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