2 Replies APA 250 words each 2 scholarly citations in addition, the Bible MUST BE USED at least
once in each reply you must apply it and explain the reason.
DB ONE
Jesus helped children at a time when children were held as lesser then adults. It was not common for any adult, let alone the Son of God, to be welcoming, helpful, healing, and loving toward children. This should come as no surprise to Christians that we are called to also do the same with children. Helping children cope with death could be a difficult task. At least when I think about this, whether it is the need to help a child with their own fate or with the death of someone else, my immediate reaction is there is no way I could do this. But Jesus reminds of that we are called to do His work. When working with children who are facing death there are different needs that they could be struggling with (Kanel 2018). Children that are facing death have a higher anxiety rate then most children (Kanel 2018). Much of their anxiety is caused from security and safety (Kanel 2018). Open and honest communication with children has shown to be effective when faced with death (Jalmsell et al. 2015). However, there is no easy way for parents to come to this conclusion or understanding and it is up to the parents on how this situation is best handled. It is also important for children to have a freedom of pain (Kanel 2018). Finally, it is important to keep in mind that children need an understanding of one’s self (Kanel 2018).
Adolescents may turn to digital sources when trying to navigate and cope with death related issues. Turning to social media during these times can have both positive and negative effects on adolescents. Adolescents can receive support and community from social media (Kanel 2018). In a study that was done with adolescents that were hospitalized following a suicide attempt, there was both positive and negative conclusions from adolescents using social media in the hospital (Weinstein et al. 2021). The study showed that the positive side of adolescents using social media was that they made social connects, found people to share common interests and used it as a resource to cope with mental health (Weinstein et al. 2021). The negative side was that adolescents found a hard time regulating time spent on social media, encountered triggering comments, self-denigrating comparison, and burdensome friendship expectations (Weinstein et al. 2021).
Death related issues during adulthood seems to be the widest range of potential issues involved in death and dying related topics. Adults can deal with major loses associated with job loss or infertility (Kanel 2018). Different deaths they may be confronted with could grandparents, parents, spouse, siblings, friends or their children (Kanel 2018). Because of the wide range of possible death outcomes, there are many different emotions that adults can go through surrounding death. One of these emotions can be guilt (Kanel 2018). When dealing with a loss of a parent, spouse, peer, sibling or friend there could be more involved in the loss. There could be other loses associated with the death such as financial, spiritual, or social in addition to a loss or question in self-identity (Kanel 2018). The concern for some older adults is the connection between depression and suicidal thoughts (Kanel 2018). Older adults may also be less accepting of interventions (Kanel 2018).Older adults that are facing death related topics are adults who are 65 years and older. Adults in this age group could be facing a life
DB TWO
Three key issues to remember when helping children cope with death include helping the child to understand that the death is not their fault, that they will be taken care of and to assist them in understanding that everyone dies but that they do not need to go through life fearing death constantly (Corr, Corr & Doka, 2019). It is important to help guide children away from magical thinking, animism and artificialism according Corr et al. (2019). After parenting 2 children through the loss of their father, one insight which would have been helpful would have been to know that while the child will often appear as though life is normal, while the adult is deeply entrenched in grief, that in the years to come, as milestones are encountered, new periods of grief will occur. For example, my 17 year will grieve that her Dad is not present for graduation, which may bring other areas of sadness to mind for her. She was six when her Dad died. Adults grieve very differently than children. My other two children were adolescents, which meant that they had a different trajectory of grief, as well. 1 Corinthians 13:11 says, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.” (English Standard Version, ESV). While this passage is not speaking about grief, it gives some insight into the mind of a child, which is that children do not reason like adults, so they do not grieve like adults.
Social Media can be Helpful or a Hindrance
In adolescence it is often common for teens to use social media to send messages to the deceased, which is a way for the teen to cope according to these Corr et al. (2019). Social media can be a help and a hindrance to the adolescent dealing with death since it may prove therapeutic to be able to state what was not said prior to the death of the individual. Although, this should not be overdone, since acceptance is a stage of grief in a healthy bereavement process. It is important that the individual not continue in a pattern of talking to the deceased, since this would suggest that the bereaved is not living in reality.
Adolescents are at a transitional point of development, which puts them at greater risk for issues pertaining to self-confidence and lack of stability, which has been found to correlate with higher levels of grief, loneliness and confusion (Corr et al., 2019). Since social media can serve a social support for an adolescent then it may be helpful, but if it is used to tear away at the adolescent’s self-esteem then it would be detrimental. The groups that can be found on social media, as well as the insights that individuals share about mental health can be useful to the teen.
A population who has difficulty responding to death but often goes unnoticed are young adults (Mash et al., 2014). Erikson’s psychosocial stage for individuals between late teens and 40 years old is intimacy versus isolation. Issues which have been shown to create difficulty for this population when grieving include how close the individual who died was to the bereaved, conflict or difficulty in the relationship prior to the death and if the bereaved as previously struggled with depression (Mash et al., 2014). Each of these issues have to do with isolation versus intimacy. If the bereaved individual was close to the deceased individual, then death has isolated the bereaved. When interpersonal issues arise between friends, then a measure of isolation occurs, and if a conflict is left unresolved then a feeling of distance from the deceased can prevail. If the young adult is on the negative side of Erikson’s stages, then grief can be more complex. Finally, depression includes a depressed, hopeless, empty or sad state (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). These types of symptoms can keep an individual from reaching out to friends, which would create a scenario of isolation leading to more painful grief. This reminds me of David and Jonathan’s friendship in the Old Testament. David wrote, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Psalm 133:1 ESV). During the young adult years, Jonathan and David had periods of time when they were not able to be together, and then David had to mourn the death of Jonathan. The beauty of David’s care for Mephibosheth in 1 Chronicles 8 and 9, shows David doing what was possible for Jonathan’s family.
Unique Concerns Older Adults with Death
Older adults can experience being devalued as younger generations fail to see the commonalities that they have with older adults, which can lead to isolation because the older individual is ignored (Corr et al, 2019), this greatly diminishes the support system of the older individual, which is important during the grief process. During this stage of life older adults have had the opportunity to work through generativity versus stagnation and then integrity versus despair. Because of this it is important for the older adult to pass knowledge and wisdom to the younger generation or stagnation will occur. Since the previous stages of Erikson’s model do not disappear with the onset of the next stage the previous pattern should be maintained for a sense of well-being. It is devastating for the older adult to be ignored and isolated.
When this generation experiences a death, then their circle of friends becomes smaller which is compounded because of the lack of a robust support system. It becomes clear how despair can then become the next issue that the individual must deal with. Biologically the older adult is slowing and likely struggling with various physical difficulties, as well as psychologically slowing down (Corr et al., 2019). It may become difficult for the older adult to maintain a sense of self as so many changes occur during the last years of life according to Corr et al. (2019). Honor should be given to the aged, which not only benefits the elderly but also the younger generation. Job 12:12 states that it is from the older individuals in society that wisdom and understanding can be found. In conclusion, it is this generation that seems to need a greater focus, so that younger generations can glean wisdom and hope can be procured for the elderly.
