On Ambiguous Loss

[tamaranth]

Here's an interesting review: Ambiguous Loss: Learning to Live With Unresolved Grief. By Pauline Boss. Harvard University Press, 155 pp., $22.

The author identifies two flavours of ambiguous loss -- when the person is physically present but psychologically absent (e.g. Alzheimer's, dementia); and when the person is psychologically present but physically absent. The examples given for the latter on the website include kidnapping, loss in natural / manmade disasters, adoption, absence of divorced parents ... but I wonder if it could be applied to the loss of friends / loved ones whom are known online but not in 'real' life. For example, the death of someone you've never met but have corresponded with, or whose LJ you've read.

Comments

[fjm.livejournal.com]

And then there is the "shadow grief" I seem to be experiencing, triggered by the grief of close friends.