KEYNOTE PAPER: The Grief Of Mental Illness: Common And Fertile Ground Answers To The Frequently Asked Questions

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By April 29, 2015 No Comments

Authors: Virginia Lafond, CANADA

Year: 2000

Event: 2000 TheMHS Conference

Subject: Keynote, recommended, book of proceedings

Type of resource: Conference Presentations and Papers

ISBN: 187693901X

Abstract: About ten years ago I first began to present my ideas about working consciously and constructively with the grief of mental illness. I did this to address, as well as I could, what I concluded was a gaping hole in psychiatric service delivery. Early on my ideas about “assisting with the emotional and psychological consequences of mental illness” seemed to find a satisfactory conceptual home in the domains grief theory and grief work. Over the course of the last ten years these ideas have, in the main, been met with approval from first-hand consumers, their family members, and by other caregivers. As well, there have been many questions asked and, of late, a few vigorous challenges posed. The “Come again? ...What are you talking about?” kind of questions, as well as “Is grief really the right metaphor?” and “Should notions about grieving be introduced to people with early psychosis?” have all been considered important to me. In this keynote address I attempt to answer six of the most frequently asked questions about the grief of mental illness and working with it.

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