Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on grief, death, mourning, and coping

BACKGROUND: The outbreak of COVID-19 has influenced every sphere and all aspects of life. COVID patients were kept in isolation to curb the spread of the infection; such situations led to mental health issues in patients as well as in their families. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim and objectives of the current study were to find the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on grief, death mourning and coping in Kashmir. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For the deeper understanding of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used. A sample of 89 individuals whose loved ones died (COVID or non-COVID deaths) during pandemic were enrolled with purposive sampling technique. The sociodemographic details of both participants as well as the deceased persons were recorded, followed by semi-structured interview, Brief Cope Scale (BCS) and Pandemic Grief Scale (PGS). RESULTS: Majority of the participants who lost a relative due to COVID-19 who were males in the age-group of 60 years and above. Grief was found more in males and in relatives whose loved ones died of COVID-19. Coping strategies adopted by the family members whose relative died of COVID more often adopted avoidant coping strategies as compared to non-COVID deaths. Mostly, deaths occurred when the family members were not around. It was highly challenging for the participants to mourn the loss as most of the mournings were in isolation, and there was hardly any support. Most of the participants could not perform last rites which complicated the grief among them. CONCLUSION: Current study emphasizes the importance of social support for those who are grieving and need of face-to-face interactions which can never be replaced by speaking over phone or through virtual spaces. However in extraordinary circumstances of COVID-19 scenario, sharing grief, expressing care and love through any mode can be an effective way to help the bereaved individuals to understand that they are not forgotten.