The study of grief: an in-depth look at a response to loss.

Abstract

The struggleto accommodateloss, as a fact of life, permeateseachstage of humandevelopmentand typifies much of the individual’s efforts to cometo termswith the issueof mortality. As Kalishobserved:“Anything you haveyou can lose; anything you are attachedto, you can be separated from; anything you love canbe taken from you. Yet, if you really havenothing to lose, you havenothing.”14The earliest theoretical formulation explaining loss is generallycreditedto Freudwhobelievedgriefwasaprocess by whichtheindividualprogressively withdrewtheenergythattieshimorher to the objectof his or her love. This energywasconceivedby Freudasbeing boundto the memoriesandideas that arosefrom interactionswith the deadperson. This processof energy withdrawalwas achievedby aprocess that Freudtermed“hypercathexis,”a processthat requiredthe mournerto turnhis backon the real world andto invest free energy in the struggle to decathect thelovedobject.’°