What specific effects does a death have on a person?

Question

When I ask this, I DON'T mean: "If a person dies, what effect does it have on him/her?" I DO mean "If a person dies, what effect would if have on say, a friend?" It doesn't even have to be a close friend. What changes in behavior are we likely to see. Will it change that person forever, or will the effects vanish after a certain period of time?

I am specifically asking about how Jon Krakauer was changed as he witnessed the death of a dozen people on mount everest, but a general explanation will do.

Answer 1

Caroline, I believe the two biggest effects are...

1. A person loses forever the presence of and relationship with the person who died. We give and take a lot in relationships, but now this is lost.

2. The death reminds a person of his/her own mortality. This is a heavy impact, because while it's quite real, most people have shoved this reality into the background and rarely think about it. The death of a friend changes that. It's a major event and yes, it changes us forever, in certain ways.

This is why we mourn the loss of the friend. To help us come to terms with the death, see it in perspective, and come to accept it and affirm it, so we can move on with our own lives without being weighed down by sadness.

Answer 2

I think the psychological effects are different for different people. But many people experience the following:
1. A sense of helplessness about the inability to stop the death from happening.
2. Guilt over being unable to save the person.
3. A feeling of purposelessness, questions like "Why are we even here? Is the Universe really just a cruel place?"
4. Increased thoughts of death, questions like "What happens when we die? Where is s/he now?"
5. Thought processes that can be overly emotional, sometimes leading to impulsive decisions. Some people move across country, change jobs ect. in an attempt to "fend off death" through change.
6. Increase in sexual appitite as a way to "feel alive", sometimes to the extent of uncharecteristic promescuity

Some of these effects go away with time. Some do not. I think that sometimes the link between a person's death and our philisophical feelings about death can be cemented in the mind and bring about life changes--embracing religion for example. And, thought the pain of loss fades, it never really goes away.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

People who experience the death of a close or relatively close person are likely to feel the 5 stages of grief. These are Denial and Isolation, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and, finally, Acceptance. For more on each of these stages, go to
http://www.memorialhospital.org/Library/general/stress-THE-3.html.

The man you reference may feel, instead, survivor guilt. For more on this, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor_guilt.

As others here have already noted, much depends on the individual and on the type of relationship between the deceased and the survivor.

Answer 4

Well,,, it affects people differently according to their upbringing and belief systems. In general death saddens those around the person, but with resilience the person returns to their life, hopefully able to live it more fully.

Answer 5

I believe there are 3 phases that most go through. the loss feeling upset empty. The anger, why did it happen. then acceptance

Answer 6

Well if it's a close friend, then s/he probably would be depressed. Like all..quiet and silent and not really caring about the things surrounding him/her.

Answer 7

some times it is hard to get over it. people may get really agry or just cry for a really long time

Answer 8

It all depends on the person..for you ..it might be life change..other it might be nothing