From rupture to reconstruction : The lived experience of grief among family members bereaved by drug-related death

Drug-related death (DRD) can be a sudden and often stigmatized form of bereavement that can shape grief in many ways. This qualitative study aimed to explore how family members who have lost a loved one due to DRD experience grief and how they cope with the loss. A phenomenological approach was used, involving semi-structured interviews with ten bereaved family members in Iceland. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to examine the data. The results indicate that grief following a DRD is not solely an emotional experience but an identity-changing, socially embedded process that starts with a rupture of the assumptive world, unfolds under the shadow of stigma and within a complex social landscape, and progressively moves toward learning to live in an altered world and reconstructing meaning after a loss. Participants described the sudden rupture of their everyday life, a profound shock, stigma, silence, and a need to defend the deceased. Their grief was formed by social expectations, relationships with others, changes in family roles, and the support that they received or did not receive. Over time, participants described coping with the loss through emotional processing, continuing bonds with the deceased, and slowly reconstructing meaning in their lives after their loved one’s passing. This research emphasizes that the grief following DRDs is complicated. This form of grief needs greater acknowledgement and more compassionate, stigma-sensitive support from healthcare professionals and society. Keywords: drug-related death, bereavement, grief, coping, stigma, social world, meaning reconstruction, reflexive thematic analysis.

Author dc:creator

• Bryndís Stefánsdóttir 1993-

Contributors dc:contributor

• Háskólinn í Reykjavík

• Klínísk sálfræði
• Meistaraprófsritgerðir
• Fíkniefni
• Dauði
• Sorg
• Fordómar
• Clinical psychology
• Drugs
• Death
• Bereavement
• Stigma (Social psychology)

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1946/53754

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:skemman.is:1946/53754