Do funerals have much psychological impact?

Answer 1

Funerals have a massive impact on anyone normal. They're a moment in your life when you're faced with your own mortality for a start. When it's someone close, the experience is almost surreal. Also, the period between someone dying and someone being buried is a bit of a void...almost a lapse in time. You sort of start adjusting and then suddenly.. there it is! a body in a coffin. Can be quite shocking.

When my Father died, there was man at the back of the church who cried and cried and cried. My Mother kept saying to me 'who's he'?... Dunno!!!! then a few months later i went to a neighbours funeral and there was that same man... crying and crying. He was just a funeral junky. Aren't people weird?

Answer 2

Depends on the relationship between you and the person who has died, but yes funerals have a psychological impact. It's a question of degrees - at my uncle's funeral, who I hadn't seen for a while, I was paying my respects to him, and in my own way thanking him for some good childhood memories. However, when it was my moms funeral, I was devasted, so much so that I was physically ill, not just through the funeral, but all of the grieving process. So basically I suppose it depends on how much you loved the person

Answer 3

Funerals allow people a time to say goodbye. It's symbolic but it still matters. It's a time to make peace.

It also allows people to mourn together. We live in a day and age where emotions are considered icky. Funerals are times when it's ok for even the most macho to cry and let others know how much he or she is hurting.

Funerals also help us to feel like we are doing something in a time when we feel most helpless. And we are doing something. We are remembering, honoring, hurting, mourning, and just plain feeling. Sometimes it doesn't seem like a lot but it is so very much.

Answer 4

For a short while yes. But it fades soon. For close family or loved ones who die,it is the death and loss that has long term effects not the actual funeral. Following the funeral is the arranging for a memorial, and visiting the grave can also be a sad occasion.

Answer 5

I think so. I also think many Western funeral customs are barbaric; the whole embalming, viewing the body, etc. thing. Not to mention the astronomical prices charged for casket, burial plot or niche, etc. etc. That's really taking advantage of the remaining family members when they're most vulnerable, all that crap about "you want the best for your loved one, don't you" when their loved one is gone.
I never attend funerals if I can avoid it, I prefer to remember the person as they were. And open casket funerals are just grotesque!

Answer 6

Yes. funerals are for the living not the dead. we bury the dead for sanitary reasons. consider this, To have a funeral indicates some sort religious belief, yet people mourn and go through what is being called of late 'The grieving process" for their own peace of mind when, it should be a time of celebration for the loved one that has been called home by their higher power. A clinical view is, the process is real, there are stages of healing we will involuntarily go through. It is thought that understanding this process makes it less painful. There are a number of web sites to look at.

Answer 7

depends on the person, When both my parents died,I never shed a tear, that in itself made me feel extremely guilty even though i loved them both.In alot of country's it is expected that you cry,wail,scream and generally work yourself up into a frenzy, the louder the better shows every one else how sorry you are that the deceased has died.
What people have to do is remember the dead,keep them alive in spirit but not forget that death is a inevitable thing that we all get a chance of.It will only have a big impact if death is not faced up to.

Answer 8

Absolutely. A lot of people need to attend the funerals of their loved ones in order for the grieving process to pass. But everybody's different I suppose. A friend of mine didn't want to go to his mother's funeral because he didn't want to see her and remember her that way.

Most of the psych lit talks about the importance of attending the funeral, though.

Answer 9

I dont know if i get what you mean completely but i think, from personal experince, Its distressing at the time and maybe for a short while afterwards. I beleive that it offeres closure and the chance to move on. Its like saying goodbye to someone and putting them to rest. I hope this has helped some x

Answer 10

I guess that would depend on the person attending the funeral and the person that died. Certainly when JFK died his funeral had a big impact on most of the people in the US.