Dying And Behavior Analysis

Two years ago, unseen and unprovoked, Sheryl Sandburg’s husband died of cardiac arrhythmia. At the time she had two children, a 7 year old daughter and a 10 year old boy. During is unimaginably difficult time in her life she turned to a counselor for grieving children for advice. The counselor told Sheryl that the “most important thing was to tell [her] kids over and over how much [she] loved them and that they were never alone” (Sandberg, 2017). As time passed Sheryl tried to implement that guidance as best as possible, though her biggest fear was that her children’s happiness would be destroyed by their loss. To ensure that this did not happen she started to talk to Adam Grant, a psychologist and professor studying how people find motivation …show more content…
Each child would say the worst and best part about their day. Even after her husband’s death, Sheryl and her children carry on this tradition, expanding things that make them feel grateful making them appreciate life even more. This article exemplifies several of the key concepts associated with death and dying including: motivation and meaning; associated with children, challenge; something all children must face and overcome, poverty, neglect, abuse; how these traumatic experiences can effect children for years to come, resilience; distress in the children, and discipline; whether to discipline or avoid …show more content…
Firstly, the experiences a state of loss or grief due to their morning of a spontaneous death. They did not experience any anticipatory grief become the death was sudden. So, is this sudden death better for development the longer more drawn out death. The answer is no. Both can have long-term negative effects on a child or even an adult. A sudden death is shocking yes, but a terminal death is seen for days, weeks, months, or even years beforehand and child or adult has to slowly watch this happen. Some widows of more drawn out deaths felt relieved and seemed to be well-adjusted because a weight had lifted off their shoulders. This may sound cynical, but after so many months or years of caring and worrying for someone, though internally they know that they very well may die, can become taxing. The last thing that I would like to point out is the cognitive strain that a child must go through to burry a parent. Granted, most children will bury their parents and few parents will have the misfortune to bury their children. At the ages of 7, for the daughter, she will begin to understand the concept of biological death, the idea that it is not reversibly. At the age of 10, for the boy, he will have mastered to ultimate biological cause of death and will most certainly understand that it is irreversible and universal. Children who understand death are at a higher cognitively developed level than those who do not.