The less known types of grief

@Hope

Disenfranchised grief- this type of grief is associated with something not seen as the norm by society- for instance the death of a pet or death of a loved one in a same sex marriage

I made a thread about disenfranchised grief here a while back.

I think it's a growing problem these days. More people have compartmentalized lives socially speaking, so it's easy to not share or be known holistically even by people we consider friends.

And yet even among those I have known for some time and feel pretty close to, I found my grief due to loosing important relationships to be unnoticed or not spoken of.

But Specifically I would like to mention a particular type of grief. That is the loss of a relationship to mental illness and or dementia. In this case the person is still with you but the relationship has been partially lost or transform so fundamentally that is unrecognizable and no longer functions. In such cases roles change and yet social norms are such it's not acknowledged.

A parent may become childlike leaving the kids in a parental role. A partner may no longer function as a friend and lover. A Spouse may require the other to become caretaker and to become parentified.

In the cases daily life itself, family roles, social positions, jobs and careers can all be changed and negatively impacted.

A person can lose many important aspects of themselves and their identity and yet society still expects the same things from them and never acknowledges the grieving person's challenges.

Anticipatory grief. Grieving before an impending loss. A terminal or progressive diagnosis. Congenital disorders. Even life changing situations like divorce or kids going to college. And the aging and impending death of a pet. All these and many other things can cause it