User:Lcortez26/Child bereavement

Article Draft
For my Article I hope to add these two sections to the Child Bereavemen t Article.

Children Conceptualizing Death
A child's perception of death will evolve as they grow and become more knowledgeable of the world around them psychologists in thanatology such as Maria Nagy and Fleck-Bohaumilitzky, suggest that there are three stages of children's idea of death. This process includes these three phases:

Phase 1(Ages 0-5): Death to children is not a definite end of life. In this stage of development, children tend to see death as a journey or sleep. If a child experiences the loss of a loved one during these ages their emotional response will be akin to withdrawal from a crucial source of support. Lacking a comprehensive grasp on death's finality, their grieving process frequently manifests as a fear of abandonment.

Phase 2 (Ages 5-7): Around the ages of 5 to 7, children will begin to register a more realistic idea of death. Symbolism emerges as a prominent feature, with common representations including angels, skeletons, or spectral entities haunting the living. Although children at this age understand that death is real and final for others, they think that they aren't susceptible to it. Some children believe that if they have certain virtuous qualities they can escape death. Such qualities can include being kind, good, fast, and smart. It has been found that this idea escaping morality can be influenced by cultural narratives, such as fairy tales and religious teachings. Consequently, if a child experiences loss at this stage, Children may project these beliefs onto the departed, perceiving their demise as a consequence of lacking the qualities deemed protective against death.

Phase 3 (Post the age of 8). Around the age of 8, children will gain the understanding that death is a natural phenomenon and universally experienced by everyone. In this stage of development, while essential to their intellectual growth, can evoke existential unease as they as they explore questions on their identity and morality. Many children will find comfort in theories of the afterlife and incarnation through cultural or religious beliefs.

Manifestations of Grief in Children
Children tend to experience the death of a loved one more intensely than adults. They grieve in episode periods rather than Grief can manifest in many different ways depending on the child and their relationship with their lost loved one. Symptoms of grief will also be influenced on if the death was sudden or anticipated. Below are some of the most habitual.

Crying: It is common and natural for children to express their grief through tears. Crying acts as an emotional release for the grieving child.

Preoccupation and Idealization with the Deceased: When faced with the loss of a loved one, it is common for a child to develop an intense desire for connection with the deceased. This can manifest into recurring thoughts and memories about the individual. Children will use objects of sentimental value to remember their lost loved one and often frequent places associated with the deceased. Children will also begin to idealize their lost loved ones to cope with grief. Negative qualities the deceased may have possessed are pushed back or even forgotten by the mourner's consciousness to maintain this positive perspective. This strategy allows for the intense pain of separation to be fractionally dulled. However, if persisted long-term idealization may end up becoming what the mourner remembers most all but forgetting the more complex quality of the deceased.

Regression: There are cases in which children can grieve so intensely that it causes them to regress into earlier stages of psychological development. Due to the extreme stress that grief causes a child may end up using all of their resources and energy attempting to manage it. This results in various abilities being given up to maintain remaining strength. In younger children regression can manifest in wetting, baby talk, and thumb sucking. In older children and adolescents, regression manifests in teeth grinding, nail-biting, and skin picking

Somatic Symptoms: The process of grief is commonly accompanied by somatic and psychosomatic symptoms and children are no different. The high physical stress of mourning can cause children to experience headaches, frequent illness, exhaustion, allergies, and gastrointestinal problems. In more severe cases, mourners have reported developing stress-related heart conditions and asthma. These somatic symptoms can last years.