#grief-and-tragedy

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fromIndependent
14 hours ago

'Every life matters' - More than 100 people attend funeral of woman who died with no known relatives

The celebration of life for Margaret Ellen 'Peggy' Murdoch took place at Ronnie Thompson's Funeral Church in Lisburn, Co Antrim, where members of the public, neighbours and carers came together to pay their respects.
London
#grief
fromSilicon Canals
21 hours ago
Pets

Psychology says the grief people feel when a dog dies is often heavier than they expected because the dog witnessed years of their private self that no human in their life ever saw - Silicon Canals

Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
3 days ago

Psychology says adult children don't grieve their aging parents all at once - they grieve them in a thousand tiny deaths, like the first time your mother forgets she told you the same story twice, or the afternoon you notice your father's hands shaking when he signs his name - Silicon Canals

Anticipatory grief involves mourning the gradual changes in living parents, representing incremental losses rather than just preparing for death.
fromIndependent
2 weeks ago
Fundraising

Modern Morals: My brother hasn't paid me back for my mum's funeral and it's brought up old feelings about him

Mental health
fromSilicon Canals
3 weeks ago

Nobody warns you that grief and loneliness are two different animals that hunt together. Grief takes the person. Loneliness takes every small moment you used to share with them and leaves you standing in the kitchen holding two coffee cups out of habit, morning after morning, until you teach yourself to reach for one. - Silicon Canals

Grief and loneliness are distinct experiences that affect individuals differently, with grief being a communal event and loneliness a persistent absence.
Pets
fromSilicon Canals
21 hours ago

Psychology says the grief people feel when a dog dies is often heavier than they expected because the dog witnessed years of their private self that no human in their life ever saw - Silicon Canals

Grief for a pet can be profound and complex, often surpassing societal expectations based on relationship hierarchy.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
3 days ago

Psychology says adult children don't grieve their aging parents all at once - they grieve them in a thousand tiny deaths, like the first time your mother forgets she told you the same story twice, or the afternoon you notice your father's hands shaking when he signs his name - Silicon Canals

Anticipatory grief involves mourning the gradual changes in living parents, representing incremental losses rather than just preparing for death.
fromIndependent
2 weeks ago
Fundraising

Modern Morals: My brother hasn't paid me back for my mum's funeral and it's brought up old feelings about him

Mental health
fromSilicon Canals
3 weeks ago

Nobody warns you that grief and loneliness are two different animals that hunt together. Grief takes the person. Loneliness takes every small moment you used to share with them and leaves you standing in the kitchen holding two coffee cups out of habit, morning after morning, until you teach yourself to reach for one. - Silicon Canals

Grief and loneliness are distinct experiences that affect individuals differently, with grief being a communal event and loneliness a persistent absence.
#retirement
Renovation
fromSilicon Canals
4 hours ago

I'm 66 and I've been retired for two years and the loneliness isn't what I expected - it's not about being alone, I have a wife, I have children, I have neighbors - it's about no longer being the person a room turns toward when a decision needs to be made, and that shift from being needed to being included is the quietest demotion there is - Silicon Canals

The loneliness of retirement stems from feeling unnecessary as roles and needs change over time.
Retirement
fromSilicon Canals
1 day ago

Psychology says there's a specific version of loneliness that only shows up in retirement - not the absence of colleagues or the silence of mornings, but the slow understanding that the version of you the world was interested in was the one producing, performing, solving, and the version sitting at home in a quiet kitchen is someone the world has gently agreed to stop asking about - Silicon Canals

Retirement loneliness stems from losing one's identity and purpose, not just from missing social connections.
Retirement
fromSilicon Canals
4 days ago

I'm 66 and the loneliest I have ever felt in my life wasn't when I lost my parents or when my kids moved away - it was the first winter of retirement when I realized my entire social world had been held together by a building I no longer had a reason to enter - Silicon Canals

Retirement can lead to unexpected loneliness as social connections tied to work diminish.
Retirement
fromSilicon Canals
6 days ago

Psychology suggests retirees who become genuinely exhausting to be around are almost never aware they're doing it - because the crankiness is grief wearing a disguise and the neediness is loneliness knocking on the only doors still open, and neither one feels like a choice from the inside - Silicon Canals

Retirement can lead to unexpected grief and identity loss, resulting in irritability and strained relationships.
Parenting
fromSilicon Canals
2 weeks ago

Nobody talks about the specific grief of watching your retired parent wander from room to room in a house that used to be chaos - not because they're sad, but because the structure that held their entire identity just became square footage - Silicon Canals

Retirement can lead to a loss of purpose for parents who defined themselves through their roles and responsibilities.
Renovation
fromSilicon Canals
4 hours ago

I'm 66 and I've been retired for two years and the loneliness isn't what I expected - it's not about being alone, I have a wife, I have children, I have neighbors - it's about no longer being the person a room turns toward when a decision needs to be made, and that shift from being needed to being included is the quietest demotion there is - Silicon Canals

The loneliness of retirement stems from feeling unnecessary as roles and needs change over time.
Retirement
fromSilicon Canals
1 day ago

Psychology says there's a specific version of loneliness that only shows up in retirement - not the absence of colleagues or the silence of mornings, but the slow understanding that the version of you the world was interested in was the one producing, performing, solving, and the version sitting at home in a quiet kitchen is someone the world has gently agreed to stop asking about - Silicon Canals

Retirement loneliness stems from losing one's identity and purpose, not just from missing social connections.
Retirement
fromSilicon Canals
4 days ago

I'm 66 and the loneliest I have ever felt in my life wasn't when I lost my parents or when my kids moved away - it was the first winter of retirement when I realized my entire social world had been held together by a building I no longer had a reason to enter - Silicon Canals

Retirement can lead to unexpected loneliness as social connections tied to work diminish.
Retirement
fromSilicon Canals
6 days ago

Psychology suggests retirees who become genuinely exhausting to be around are almost never aware they're doing it - because the crankiness is grief wearing a disguise and the neediness is loneliness knocking on the only doors still open, and neither one feels like a choice from the inside - Silicon Canals

Retirement can lead to unexpected grief and identity loss, resulting in irritability and strained relationships.
Parenting
fromSilicon Canals
2 weeks ago

Nobody talks about the specific grief of watching your retired parent wander from room to room in a house that used to be chaos - not because they're sad, but because the structure that held their entire identity just became square footage - Silicon Canals

Retirement can lead to a loss of purpose for parents who defined themselves through their roles and responsibilities.
Psychology
fromPsychology Today
6 hours ago

Why We Cry Emotional Tears When No Other Animal Does

Emotional tears serve as a unique social signal in humans, communicating feelings and activating empathy in observers.
fromIrish Independent
5 hours ago

'His final act on earth was to save five lives' - brother pays emotional tribute at funeral of teen killed in Cork road tragedy

As a family we decided to donate his organs. His heart, lungs, liver, kidney and pancreas all received five perfect matches. Meaning as his final act on earth he was able to save five lives and leave a legacy to the end of time.
Fundraising
Austin
fromPsychology Today
1 day ago

The Emotional Cost of Becoming Someone New

Coping with life changes during a Ph.D. journey involves financial adjustments, emotional challenges, and personal growth.
#trauma
Mental health
fromPsychology Today
1 day ago

How to Talk About Childhood Issues Without Blaming the Parents

Unresolved parental trauma can manifest in children's psychiatric symptoms, perpetuating trauma across generations unless actively addressed.
Mental health
fromPsychology Today
1 day ago

Sexual Assault Survivors Are Not Responsible for Their Own Suffering

The effects of trauma from sexual abuse in adolescence are long-lasting and profoundly alter development.
Mental health
fromPsychology Today
1 day ago

How to Talk About Childhood Issues Without Blaming the Parents

Unresolved parental trauma can manifest in children's psychiatric symptoms, perpetuating trauma across generations unless actively addressed.
Mental health
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

The Lie Trauma Tells: 'No One Understands You'

Terminal uniqueness can hinder trauma survivors from seeking support, making connection with empathetic individuals essential for healing.
Relationships
fromSlate Magazine
12 hours ago

My Partner Just Got Laid Off From His Job of 12 Years. What He's Doing Now Boggles the Mind.

Understanding the importance of budgeting during a job transition is crucial for financial stability.
fromAbove the Law
1 day ago

Why Your Story, Engagement, And Empathy Matter More Than Ever - Above the Law

Trust begins with realness. When lawyers share their story and the reason behind their work, clients see themselves reflected in that narrative. Clients are not simply hiring legal skill; they are looking for alignment, empathy, and shared values. Storytelling bridges that gap.
Online marketing
Parenting
fromSilicon Canals
1 day ago

The people who were praised for being mature as children and punished for being needy as adults, and the decades it takes to untangle which one was actually true - Silicon Canals

Maturity in children often reflects adult expectations, leading to long-term consequences for the child's emotional development.
Careers
fromSlate Magazine
1 day ago

My Company's CEO Died. Everything That's Happened Since Has Me Reconsidering My Future.

Making a confident decision is more important than the choice itself.
Social justice
fromQueerty
1 day ago

So many funerals, so little help: How our community faced AIDS & refused to disappear - Queerty

The AIDS crisis in America illustrates the impact of youth activism, community, and the ongoing fight for equality and access to care.
US news
fromwww.npr.org
4 days ago

She invited her friends to come together to make her casket

MaddyChristine Hope Brokopp is creating her own casket with friends after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis.
MMA
fromCageside Press
2 days ago

Robert Valentin Didn't Allow Himself to Cry Over Mother's Death Until UFC Winnipeg

Robert Valentin overcame personal tragedy and challenges to secure a victory against Julien Leblanc at UFC Winnipeg.
fromwww.mediaite.com
2 days ago

Sen. Mark Warner Announces Daughter's Death At 36: Heartbroken Beyond Words'

We are heartbroken beyond words by the passing of our beloved daughter, Madison, 36, after a decades-long battle with juvenile diabetes and other health issues. She filled our lives with love and laughter, and her absence leaves an immeasurable void.
NYC parents
Humor
fromSilicon Canals
3 days ago

People who laugh before they finish telling a painful story aren't handling it well. They're releasing the listener from having to respond to it seriously, which is a skill they learned from people who couldn't. - Silicon Canals

Laughter during painful stories often serves as a social cue to ease discomfort rather than indicating healing.
fromSilicon Canals
3 days ago

Psychology says people who still remember exactly where they were when JFK was shot or 9/11 happened aren't clinging to a date on the calendar - they're carrying the exact coordinates of the moment their understanding of the world was permanently rewritten, and the reason those details never fade is because your brain wasn't recording the tragedy, it was recording the last version of you that existed before you knew the world could break like that - Silicon Canals

Flashbulb memories are memories that are affected by our emotional state. Your brain takes a snapshot when the ground shifts under your feet, and that snapshot includes everything—the smell of coffee going cold in your cup holder, the static on the radio, the way your hands suddenly felt too heavy.
Writing
Yoga
fromYoga Journal
6 days ago

There's a Specific Type of Grief We Don't Talk About. Yoga Can Help You Process It.

Grief over sentimental objects, known as material grief, is a common experience that can evoke strong emotions similar to losing a loved one.
fromPsychology Today
1 week ago

Grief, Storytelling, and Identity

The concept album is a response to the brutal murder of Breedlove's father and stepmother at the hands of his stepbrother. The frame—the first song and the last—of the album is about the murders and their aftermath. But this is not a true crime record.
Music production
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
19 hours ago

Not everyone who smiles through criticism is secure. Some people learned very early that visible hurt made the criticism worse, and the smile is the face their nervous system wears when it's bracing for the next hit - Silicon Canals

A smile in response to criticism often masks internal pain and is a learned strategy from childhood experiences of trauma or stress.
Mental health
fromPsychology Today
1 day ago

How Music Therapy Can Help Parentless Children Navigate Loss

Music therapy provides essential support for grieving adolescents and children, helping them cope with the loss of a parent.
London politics
fromIndependent
1 week ago

Living with ambiguous loss: 'When someone is dead, you get to have a eulogy, you put a lid on a coffin. With missing, you get none of that'

Families of missing persons experience prolonged uncertainty and struggle to grieve.
Parenting
fromSilicon Canals
2 days ago

I'm 66 and I grew up in a house where my father worked sixty-hour weeks and never once told me he was proud of me - and I did the exact same thing to my sons before I realized the silence wasn't strength, it was a pattern I'd inherited like the color of my eyes - Silicon Canals

Emotional expression in father-son relationships can be deeply affected by generational patterns of communication.
US news
fromwww.npr.org
3 days ago

She no longer remembers it's her birthday. He got her a present anyway

Gift-giving for a spouse with dementia can be challenging due to their changing needs and understanding.
Psychology
fromwww.theguardian.com
4 days ago

Before Ruth died, we agreed on her ghost' sign. Experts say it's a powerful tool for working through grief

Negotiating a humorous ghost pact with a dying friend highlights the human need for connection and meaning after loss.
France politics
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 weeks ago

Lebanese forced to bury their dead twice as war robs them of final goodbyes

War in Lebanon disrupts traditional funeral rites, forcing families to bury loved ones in temporary graveyards far from their hometowns.
Parenting
fromPsychology Today
1 week ago

A Classmate Has Died-How Do I Talk About It With My Child?

Supporting a child through grief requires parents to process their own emotions first for effective communication and comfort.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
1 day ago

Psychology suggests there's a certain type of anger that lives inside the most agreeable people - it's the anger of swallowing every small injustice, every dismissive comment, every overlooked contribution for decades, and the reason the calmest person in your family might one day explode over something trivial isn't the trivial thing, it's the fifty years of larger things they never allowed themselves to react to - Silicon Canals

Agreeableness can lead to emotional accumulation, resulting in explosive reactions over seemingly trivial matters due to suppressed feelings.
Psychology
fromPsychology Today
1 day ago

How Can Survivors Regain Pleasure After Sexual Trauma?

Survivors of sexual trauma can experience a range of sexual responses, including both desire and avoidance, and their fantasies often overlap with non-victims.
#aging
Parenting
fromSilicon Canals
2 weeks ago

There's a particular grief that hits when your parent asks you for help with something they used to do effortlessly, and neither of you acknowledges what just shifted. You both pretend it's a preference. It's not a preference. It's the first visible transfer of authority that neither of you consented to. - Silicon Canals

Aging parents often disguise their need for help as preference, masking the underlying shift in the parent-child power dynamic.
fromSilicon Canals
3 days ago
Mental health

Psychology says the most isolating part of getting older isn't having fewer people around you - it's having fewer people who knew you when you were whole and fast and full of plans, because the version of you that exists in other people's memory is shrinking at the same rate as the guest list, and one day you'll be the only person alive who remembers what you were capable of - Silicon Canals

The hardest part of aging is losing connections to those who remember different versions of ourselves.
Parenting
fromSilicon Canals
2 weeks ago

There's a particular grief that hits when your parent asks you for help with something they used to do effortlessly, and neither of you acknowledges what just shifted. You both pretend it's a preference. It's not a preference. It's the first visible transfer of authority that neither of you consented to. - Silicon Canals

Aging parents often disguise their need for help as preference, masking the underlying shift in the parent-child power dynamic.
Mental health
fromSilicon Canals
3 days ago

Psychology says the most isolating part of getting older isn't having fewer people around you - it's having fewer people who knew you when you were whole and fast and full of plans, because the version of you that exists in other people's memory is shrinking at the same rate as the guest list, and one day you'll be the only person alive who remembers what you were capable of - Silicon Canals

The hardest part of aging is losing connections to those who remember different versions of ourselves.
Mindfulness
fromPsychology Today
3 weeks ago

Grief, Loss, Abundance, Joy: Finding Refuge in Harsh Times

Acceptance of loss is essential for emotional balance and finding solace in nature can help mitigate distress.
Writing
fromEsquire
2 weeks ago

My Best Friend Lived an Extraordinary Life. Why Did He Take It So Soon?

Friendship can form unexpectedly, as seen in the bond between two boys who became best friends despite being in separate classrooms.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
2 days ago

There's a specific kind of adult who apologizes for crying even when they're alone, and it isn't sensitivity, it's the residue of a childhood where emotion was something you were expected to clean up before anyone saw the mess - Silicon Canals

Adults who were invalidated in childhood often apologize for their emotions, reflecting deep-seated patterns of emotional suppression.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
3 days ago

The people who seem to have endless patience with difficult family members aren't necessarily more forgiving. Many of them long ago concluded that the emotional cost of asking for change was higher than the cost of absorbing the behavior, and they've been paying the cheaper price for so long they forgot there was ever a choice. - Silicon Canals

Conflict avoidance is often mistaken for patience, but it can lead to relationship breakdown and is linked to anxiety and attachment insecurity.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
6 days ago

The people who talk about their childhood like it was fine but can't remember most of it aren't lying. The absence of memory and the absence of trauma feel identical from the inside until something cracks the seal, and by then the person has built an entire adult identity on the version where nothing happened. - Silicon Canals

Childhood amnesia affects memory retention, leading to a lack of vivid recollections from early years despite having a normal upbringing.
Social justice
fromTruthout
1 month ago

By Organizing Acts of Public Grief, We Build the Courage to Keep Fighting

Authoritarian regimes use fear and violence to enforce compliance, but sustained public dissent and collective grieving strengthen resistance to oppression.
fromwww.bbc.com
1 month ago

Floral tributes left after death of baby girl

At this stage, we believe the incident occurred within a domestic context, but we are appealing for anybody with information to come forward. The death of a baby was always an extremely tragic occurrence.
London
fromwww.bbc.com
1 month ago

'My daughter died in her sleep, with no warning'

We feel robbed. Nicola was handling her epilepsy, taking her medication which was reviewed periodically but she nor us knew anything about sudden unexpected death. Because of this they had become 'too complacent' about the illness and the family would have been more wary if they had been made aware of the risk of SUDEP.
Public health
Mental health
fromPsychology Today
3 weeks ago

Talking About Death: The Depth of the Meaning of Life

Death is a certain aspect of life that is often uncomfortable to discuss, yet it shapes our relationships and understanding of existence.
Psychology
fromPsychology Today
3 weeks ago

The Impact of Detached Reactions to Tragedy

Detached responses to tragedy lower accountability and hinder empathy, while specific, caring responses promote genuine concern and action.
UK news
fromwww.bbc.com
2 months ago

Mum's sleepless nights after one year without son

Ali Durrani, 33, went missing after leaving home on 5 February 2025; despite extensive searches and CCTV, no trace has been found since 6 February.
Relationships
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

Who Will You Call When the Worst Happens?

Intentionally cultivating and maintaining friendships is essential because you cannot predict when you will urgently need someone to rely on.
fromDeconstructing Yourself
2 months ago

Stay with the Grief

Today I saw images of students leaving their school with their hands raised in the air, hours after cowering in fear and terror in barricaded classrooms. Nine dead and twenty-seven wounded in the tiny Rocky Mountain town of Tumbler Ridge. The mayor, Darryl Krakowka, said, "I have lived here for 18 years. I probably know every one of the victims." And this in Canada, which often seems to us Americans like a bastion of sanity and normalcy in comparison with our madness.
Mindfulness
Parenting
fromTODAY.com
1 month ago

Meredith Gaudreau Shares the 1 Thing She Does Consistently to Cope With Grief

Writing down memories and stories helps preserve details that grief-induced brain fog causes people to forget, providing comfort and connection to loved ones.
fromSilicon Canals
1 month ago

I'm 44 and I haven't cried since my father's funeral three years ago - not because I've healed but because somewhere between the eulogy and the drive home my body decided that was the last time and I've been waiting ever since for the next wave to come and it just won't and the numbness is worse than the grief ever was - Silicon Canals

Dr. Bessel van der Kolk writes in 'The Body Keeps the Score' that trauma doesn't just live in our minds - it reshapes how our bodies respond to emotion. Sometimes, when we experience significant loss, our nervous system essentially decides that feeling is too dangerous and shuts down the whole operation.
Mental health
Mental health
fromSilicon Canals
1 month ago

Psychologists explain that the grief of not having children doesn't follow the stages people expect because there is no single loss to process. It's a recurring absence that resurfaces at every milestone, every holiday, every quiet evening, and the pain isn't that it keeps happening once but that it keeps happening in new forms for the rest of your life. - Silicon Canals

Grief from childlessness is a unique, ongoing loss without a single event or clear moment of acceptance, manifesting through countless ordinary moments that unexpectedly trigger profound emotional weight.
Psychology
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

Grieving Loss When There's No Clean Goodbye

Ambiguous loss is an unresolved physical or psychological absence that creates chronic uncertainty, frozen grief, and blocked meaning-making by denying clear rituals or closure.
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

Why the Grief Ripples So Deeply When an Advocate Dies

'They're dead.' In disbelief, my response was unfiltered. 'What?' Followed by the F word. A wave of emotion rushed through me. My chest tightened. My body went cold. I could not immediately find the words to offer condolences, not because I did not feel them deeply, but because inside, my many parts were experiencing a collective shock. When you live with dissociative identity disorder (DID), news like this does not land in one place. It ricochets across all parts within.
Mental health
Mental health
fromenglish.elpais.com
1 month ago

Surviving the suicide of a loved one: The unspoken grief

Survivors of suicide face unique, protracted grief characterized by overwhelming guilt, shame from societal myths, intense loneliness, and limited social recognition.
#bereavement
fromBuzzFeed
2 months ago
Mental health

After Our Son Died, My Husband Gave Me The Most Meaningful Christmas Gift Of My Life

fromBuzzFeed
2 months ago
Mental health

After Our Son Died, My Husband Gave Me The Most Meaningful Christmas Gift Of My Life

fromSlate Magazine
2 months ago

Overcoming Grief Through Ritual

When we think of rituals, we tend to think of face masks and wellness trends. But there are actually ways to use rituals to help heal grief and deal with stressful times. On this episode, Lucy Lopez, Elizabeth Newcamp, and Zak Rosen are joined by ritual expert Betty Ray to talk about creative ways to help children process grief and big emotions, how to use ritual to create safety and expression, and much more.
Mental health
Mental health
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

When Grief Enters the Locker Room

Suicide deaths in sport cause collective shock and grief across athletes and staff and expose insufficient understanding and support for athlete mental health.
Mental health
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

What to Expect When You're Expecting to Cry Forever

Grief from losing a child to suicide is a lifelong process requiring active work, not passive healing, with pain gradually lessening over years rather than resolving completely.
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