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Ambiguous loss

Ambiguous loss is a loss that occurs without a significant likelihood of reaching emotional closure or a clear understanding. This kind of loss leaves a person searching for answers, and thus complicates and delays the process of grieving, and often results in unresolved grief. Causes include infertility, termination of pregnancy, disappearance of a family member, estrangement, death of an ex-spouse, and a family member being physically alive but in a state of cognitive decline due to Alzheimer's disease.

Origin of concept
The term "ambiguous loss" was first used in the late 1970s by Pauline Boss, a researcher who studied families of soldiers who went missing in action. From 1973 to 1977, Boss had used the term "boundary ambiguity", but she later replaced that with "ambiguous loss". == Types ==
Types
An ambiguous loss can be physical or psychological in nature. Physical loss A physical ambiguous loss means that the body of a loved one is no longer around, such as a missing person or unrecovered body from war, but is still remembered psychologically due to the chance of coming back, for example in missing person cases. and can cause traumatic distress as posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychological loss The second type of ambiguous loss is where a person is still physically there, but is psychologically absent. This type of loss can also be experienced by people who leave certain groups, such as Jehovah's Witnesses. ==Grieving process==
Grieving process
The grieving process for an ambiguous loss differs from regular mourning in that one is unable to gain closure due to unresolved grief. In cases of a psychological ambiguous loss, the grieving process can be especially difficult because of the inability to accept or admit that there is a problem and confront the situation in the first place to deal with the issue. One key factor in getting over an ambiguous loss is resilience. In the normal grieving process, people obtain closure after dealing with a loss. In an ambiguous loss, closure does not exist, and should not be sought in this case. Uncontrollable factors such as culture, age, socioeconomic status, and genetics are all factors that contribute to resilience. Trauma and ambiguous loss often co-exist together and if the trauma is not dealt with it can trigger unresolved emotions. Grief in ambiguous loss can be both beneficial and difficult. As the grief in an ambiguous loss differs from the progressions of regular grief there is no time pressure to move on or achieve closure. This allows for people to remember a lost loved one and move on with relationships and life. It is also known as unrecognized grief because it often occurs in the loss of someone or something not taken as seriously by others, e.g. a beloved pet. Frozen grief Frozen grief is the third type of grief, it is a result of the ambiguity of death because of the physical or psychological disappearance and therefore one's grief is frozen since they do not get a chance to let grief run a normal course. == See also ==
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