Mourning rituals help people cope with grief, say scientists

The death of Queen Elizabeth II has left the royal household and the country in a state of mourning.

Experts say rituals can help us deal with death.

According to Dr Lucy Selman, an associate professor in end-of-life care, mourning is a way of externalising the emotions and thoughts of grief and incorporating the loss into your life and healing.

Traditions are important according to Dr Mary-Frances O'Connor, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Arizona.

She said that mourning rituals can offer comfort in a time of uncertainty. Those who came before us have experienced grief and uncertainty, and they have carried on and restored meaningful lives.

Markers of mourning such as armbands can help identify those who are grieving, and act as indicators to others to respect and support the grieving.

She said that it can be helpful. 30% of adults in the UK who had been bereaved found others not mentioning their loss at all. Selman wondered if grief would be less easy to ignore if we had armbands.

O'Connor said that cultural signs of mourning can be helpful, but noted that the way we express grief changes over time.

She said that an expression of grief that is meaningful to you and your family is important. There are many cases where black armbands would be appropriate, but there are many more meaningful ways to express your sympathies.

The mourning traditions employed by the royal household offer a shared and personal platform to express grief, and allow a smooth transition from loss, according to a research fellow at the Centre for Death and Society. He said that they are a great way to encourage bonds among family, community and society in the face of death.

It's important to explore new customs and rituals with society becoming more diverse.

The heart of our efforts to mourn and grieve is to love, to remember and, ultimately, to find our own way to live with loss.

The death of a loved one has become more painful for thousands of people because of the Pandemic.

More can be done despite the fact that these rituals have come back.

He said that a fixed mourning period for everyone was unlikely to cover every eventuality, but it would go a long way.

We shouldn't expect grief to take a long time and we should be done with it in a few weeks. The need to take time to mourn is shown by this morning's unfold. Ten days is just the beginning of the grieving process.

More emotional support is needed for those who have lost a loved one, as well as better bereavement policies for employees, expanded statutory bereavement leave, and a reduction in the administrative burden after someone dies.

Employers need to support staff who have died.

Many people don't have the time to grieve in our busy world. She said that as humans, we still need time and space to grieve and adjust to what it means to die.