THE PARTICULARITIES OF BEREAVEMENT DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of determining the characteristics of grief from the loss of loved ones during a pandemic of coronavirus infection. The COVID-19 pandemic poses an extreme threat to global health, and the loss, in narrow and broad contexts, now affects many aspects of human life. The purpose of the article is to empirically study the peculiarities of bereavement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research methods: Hospital scale of anxiety and depression (HADS, Zigmond, Snaith, 1983, adapted by Andrushchenko) questionnaire of post-traumatic growth (PGI, Tadeshi, Calhaun, adapted by Magomed-Eminov) and questionnaire of grief reactions (HGRC, Hogan, 2001, Ukrainian-language adaptation Zlyvkov, Lukomska, 2020). The study involved 274 people, including 136 whose relatives or close friends died of COVID-19 and its complications, and 138 relatives who died of cancer. Results of the study: in both samples there was a subclinical depression, the so-called borderline condition, but in the case of death from coronavirus relatives feel moderate anxiety, while after death from cancer relatives note the absence of significant symptoms. Relatives of those who died of COVID-19 have more pronounced grief reactions and less personal and post-traumatic growth, in the case of death from cancer relatives have higher rates of post-traumatic growth, in particular on scales such as “attitude to others” and “strength of personality”. lastly, this is due to the availability of palliative care and social support, which in COVID-19 and its complications are minimized, which in turn increases anxiety, feelings of alienation and isolation from society. Conclusions: the grieving process is more pronounced in the case of death of relatives from coronavirus than from cancer, it is characterized mostly by panic reactions, guilt, anger, self-isolation from other people. Our data confirm the results of previous foreign studies, including the fact that sudden death, inability to say “goodbye” aggravate the symptoms of grief and may cause a prolonged reaction of grief.