Study shows grief takes many forms and experiences vary
Researchers at the University of York have collected, and made publicly available, testimony describing first-person experiences of grief.
The researchers, involved in the AHRC-funded project Grief: A Study of Human Emotional Experience, demonstrate that most people are affected profoundly by bereavement at some point in their lives, but the experience of grief remains poorly understood.
Those who are grieving often remark that aspects of their grief are bewildering, isolating, hard to articulate, and difficult or impossible for others to comprehend.
Project lead Professor Matthew Ratcliffe from the Department of Philosophy said: "We developed this study in order to investigate various aspects of grief that people find bewildering and difficult to make sense of, as well as to explore some of the many different ways in which grief is experienced. It is part of a larger project that seeks to investigate experiences of grief in all its complexity and diversity.”
Dr Louise Richardson also from the Department of Philosophy, who worked on the study said: “We hope that the survey will be helpful for those experiencing grief, supporting others through grief, as well as a wide range of people whose work involves bereavement and loss more generally.”
The testimonies collected via the survey form part of Matthew Ratcliffe’s new book Grief Worlds (to be published January 24, 2023). https://www.griefyork.com/study-details.html
Notes to editors:
- The first-person accounts collected via the study, as well as accompanying information, can be found here.