Unresolved Grief: A Research Study

Losing a parent is one of the hardest obstacles life can throw at you, which tends to leave a great number of adults devastated, and emotionless. Some adults, however, tend to turn to medication and alcohol as a way to cope with their intense emotions, which can result in a full-blown alcohol/drug addiction. Adults may experience the phenomena called “Unresolved Grief”, which often develops when a person feels guilty over a loss, considers the death to be unfair, or has lost a parent due to a violent death (Gen, 2016). In correlation to what is said above, this image below illustrates and compares how severe a drinking problem impacts young adults (aged 18) from before the death of a father, to afterwards in a 1989 research study. (Umberson,
Also as Figure no. 4 likely suggests, that after a death, sons who recalled that their father had a drinking problem were more prone to having a drinking problem of their own. Such memories have less effect on daughter’s who recalled that their fathers had a drinking problem, with an increase of 15 drinks per month, compared to the 100 drink increase in sons). In another U.S. National Study, conducted by Dr. Maria Klopp, which examined the drinking characteristics of mourning persons (aged 18-75) by using a tool called Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, it concluded that among bereaved men the risk of alcohol related problems tend to be higher. Dr Maria Klopp states: “Considering the high mortality rates of bereaved adult men, alcohol consumption might play a mediator role. These facts draw attention to the importance of prevention, early recognition, and effective therapy of hazardous drinking in bereaved men.” (Klopp, 2013) Although researchers agree that bereavement can significantly affect people's physical and mental health status, in contrast, the duration of this effect is highly
Going back to Dr. Klopp’s study on individuals aged 18-75, she was able to conclude that men after a year, compared to two years of bereavement, had incidences of alcohol consumption that were significantly lower. About fifty-four percent lower to be exact. Furthermore, after studying bereaved women, there was no differences from alcohol consumption from the first year to the second. To put it another way, there was a steady alcohol consumption from women from the first year to the second year of losing a parent. Comparatively, when both women and men were examined for three years after the loss of a parent, Klopp concluded that: “Men were significantly more at risk of alcohol addiction if their father died, as well as women were more at risk if their mother died.” (Klopp, 2013) It is important to note that, because we all assume that at birth, male offspring were attached to their mothers, and female offspring were attached to their fathers, but it comes to show over time it becomes the exact opposite. Obviously there will be special circumstances where male offspring responds more to the death of their mothers, but this is on a general