I'm not Crazy, It's the Situation (Ambiguous Loss) presented for Families with Missing Loved Ones with Victim Services Niagara by Maureen Trask on Oct. 11, 2017.
4. What is Ambiguous Loss?
Dr. Pauline Boss, principal theorist of the concept of Ambiguous Loss
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Ambiguous loss differs from ordinary loss in that there is
no verification of death or no certainty that the person will
come back or return to the way they used to be.
www.ambiguousloss.com
5. Types of Ambiguous Loss
1. Physically Absent-
Psychologically Present
2. Psychologically Absent-
Physically Present
Adoption
Migration
Missing people
Miscarriage and stillborn loss
Natural disaster and
catastrophic tragedy
Addictions
Dementia and Alzheimer’s
Mental health issues
Separation/Divorce
Traumatic brain injury or
coma
There is no verification of death.
There is no certainty that the person will come back
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6. Ambiguous Loss is:
Externally Caused
Unclear, Uncertain Loss
Senseless/Traumatic Loss
Lacks “Closure”
No Verification
Freezes the Grief Process
Like being “Stuck in Limbo”
Paralyzes Individual and Family Relationships
A Unique Individual Journey to “Find Meaning”
Boss, P. (2009). The trauma and complicated grief of ambiguous loss. Pastoral Psych, 59(2), 137-145.
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7. Effects of Ambiguous Loss
(This Crazy Situation)
Emotional rollercoaster and physical stress
Changes families, relationships, roles and identity
Can change spiritual beliefs or shatter values
Can cause the most stressful kind of loss
Goals – Learn to:
Live with the emotional rollercoaster and adapt to
the changes that come with the loss
Live with the ambiguity by developing meaning*
* Boss, P. (1999). Ambiguous loss: learning to live with unresolved grief. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 7
8. Triggers and Trauma
“Having a missing loved one is the most painful
loss of all.” (Dr. Pauline Boss, 1999)
The *Trauma Timeline is an important aspect when
assessing the implications of the loss
Triggers can affect the emotional ups and downs
The goal for all of us is to remain unflappable in the
midst of ambiguity, though no easy task.
Take a deep breath, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again.
*Supporting those who are left behind, Australian Federal Police (Sarah Wayland), 2007 8
9. Ways to Cope
Reach out to others
Accept the uncertainty
Care for yourself first
Find balance in your life
Think in a “both and” way
Share your story, when you are ready
Educate yourself, develop resiliency
Maintain family relationships
Continue to discover Hope 9
10. What Helped Me
Connecting with other families with a missing loved one
Learning about Ambiguous Loss
Sharing my story
Knowing I’m not Crazy, it’s the Situation!
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11. Living and Learning on the
Journey of Uncertainty
“Loss of a missing loved one is often a lonely
and an untrodden path for each of us who
has to walk it.” *
Accept and find meaning
in my uncertainty.
Care for myself first.
Learn to develop resilience.
Continue to discover Hope.
11* Living in Limbo: Five Years On, Missing People UK, 2013
12. From me to each of you:
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Hope for the Best,
Prepare for the Worst,
and NEVER GIVE-UP.
Editor's Notes
Introductions
- I’m here to share my journey of ambiguous loss, with having had a missing son for 3 ½ years.
Daniel had set me on this path, which was new to me, but I learning lots about strength, resiliency, and never giving up.
As a parent, no one prepares you for this type of grief and loss.
Through this presentation, I will share my challenges in finding community supports for people in my situation and how information sources can be enhanced to include information classification to make it easier for families to access. But first, a brief explanation of ambiguous loss which explains my experience.
So, as a Mom left behind, living in limbo, frozen in grief, not knowing what I was grieving or how to deal with this loss. More questions than answers.
My journey was over 3 ½ years. Many have endured this path on their own, for far too many years.
‘The heartache of having a missing loved one is overwhelming as days turn into weeks, then months, then years. Each search or new lead sets us up for hopeful answers, but also painful disappointments. It’s an emotional rollercoaster that is difficult to describe let alone understand. There is so much uncertainty. Our family has experienced death of loved ones and the grieving process associated with this type of loss. But how do you grieve someone who is missing? How do you grieve when you don’t know if they are alive or dead? How do you carry on with the demands of life, and at the same time deal with the emotional turmoil? This is our reality. Naturally, one will seek out support services to help cope, seek out those who can help us deal with the uncertainty.’ Maureen Trask, mother of Daniel Trask
This poem “When Someone you love goes missing”, by Tom M. Brown, speaks to this journey.
(read poem)
Dr. Pauline Boss presented the theory of ambiguous loss in 1999 (book). She has also applied her theory by facilitating support for families in numerous disasters including 9/11, Thailand tsunami, and Malaysian air crash. When I learned of her work, I read her books and immediately connected with what I was experiencing, it made sense. It wasn’t me, it was the situation. I contacted her to learn more and determine if support material or services were available for families such as mine, very little in Canada.
Pauline has written subsequent books on Loss, Trauma and Resilience (2006) and Dementia (2011), building on research and clinical experience of ambiguous loss.
In Loss, Trauma, and Resilience, Boss provides the therapeutic insight and wisdom that aids mental health professionals in not "going for closure," but rather building strength and acceptance of ambiguity. What readers will find is a concrete therapeutic approach that is at once directive and open to the complex contexts in which people find meaning and discover hope in the face of ambiguous losses.
In Loving Someone Who Has Dementia, Boss builds on research and clinical experience, yet the material is presented as a conversation. She shows you a way to embrace rather than resist the ambiguity in your relationship with someone who has dementia.
Two types of ambiguous loss…
Psychologically absent- Physically present
The loved one is physically present however; they are cognitively and emotionally absent.
Physically absent- Psychologically present
The loved one is physically absent but remains psychologically present.
Missing People (for example disappeared, kidnapped, missing in action, or mass disasters such as 9/11)
It is also possible to be experiencing both at the same time as I am with a missing son and a mother with dementia. As you can see with all of these examples there is no real goodbye to the relationship and roles, no farewell ritual, and yet someone is lost and something remains creating ambiguity.
I would like to note that I will be using the term “traditional loss” to refer to loss from a death that is followed by a funeral or formal ceremony to mark the death (celebration of life).
Externally Caused- external circumstances and situations cause the loss rather than individual pathology This situation has caused sadness in my life. But, I’m not crazy, or depressed – I’m heart broken.
Unclear, uncertain Loss- the loss is unclear because the relationship is not completely gone. Rather a part of the loved one is still very present yet the other part of them is gone which I will further discuss in a moment.
Senseless Loss- the loss is confusing and incomprehensible due to the many uncertainties and unanswered questions.
Traumatic Loss - typically with ambiguous loss the loss comes from a traumatic experience.
Lacks closure- I researched what closure was because I wondered is closure ever possible with any loss. Some of the definitions I got where: an often comforting or satisfying sense of finality, bringing to an end, and a conclusion. From this, I decided that full closure was never possible with any loss because you can never shut the doors on the memories, relationship, love and the bond, which can never be erased. In other words, while death does bring finality to one’s life. Complete closure is not possible with any loss because loss is never satisfying. However, with ambiguous loss there is absolutely no closure because there is no verification of death, no real goodbye rituals such as and burial. With ambiguous loss, there is no finality, but rather ongoing uncertainties, which deny any small sense of closure that, allow people to try to go on, not move on but go on with the sadness. This leads me to the next point…
Frozen grief / like being Stuck in limbo- ambiguous loss freezes the grief process because not all is fully lost, there is no finality, and it does not feel right to fully mourn. It is an on-hold, frozen grief. It is essentially as though being stuck in limbo.
A unique, individual journey- much like a traditional loss, each person’s grief journey is unique and individual. While two people may experience ambiguous loss for the same reasons, their journey will always be different. Having said that it is very important for those experiencing ambiguous loss to have a community connection with others experiencing the same thing as it helps to normalize the emotions, and the feeling connected helps to find the needed meaning.
Further on closure: Closure is a Myth (even with Death).
Closure is not part of the grieving process.
Nor is it necessary for healing.
A connection formed in LOVE can’t be closed. (The Grief Toolbox)
Is closure a myth? Ambiguous loss defies closure even with healthy families as discussed by Pauline Boss and Donna Carnes, in Family Process article, 2012.
I agree with their summary that ambiguous loss with its lack of closure makes immense demands on the human capacity to cope and grieve.
So to me, there will be no closure for me. Even though Daniel was found deceased, I agree that my connection formed in LOVE can’t be closed. This too is being questioned in traditional loss.
Closure is a word I really, really do not like, which is true of others with missing loved ones. Instead, I prefer to say it’s answers I need. If answers are not available, then I need to find comfort in the uncertainty, some sense of meaning from this, peace, but certainly not “Closure”.
Families will never have closure, the best we can get is answers.