Effect of Animal Loss On Humans
There is no set amount of time for the grieving process to occur. However, mourning is much more intense for a pet upon whom the owner was emotionally dependent. Additionally, some pet owners may feel unable to express their grieving due to social mores surrounding pets. If the pet owner internalizes the grief, the suffering increases. Also, there can be a difference between male and female reactions to the death of a pet. Men, especially in Western cultures, are socialized to internalize their feelings, and so though pet ownership is divided equally between males and females, males may feel it necessary to hide their grief.
The stages of grief proposed by Dr. Elizabeth Kübler-Ross was designed in relation to human death, but can be adapted to describe the grief process for the death of a pet. Indeed, pet death includes several lessons: 1) the relationship rather than the object (the animal) is central to understand the loss; 2) the manner of death/loss will affect the grieving process; 3) the age and living situation of the bereaved will affect the grieving process.
Read more about this topic: Animal Loss
Famous quotes containing the words effect of, effect, animal, loss and/or humans:
“Self-denial is not a virtue: it is only the effect of prudence on rascality.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“What has been the effect of [religious] coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“Man may be defined as the animal that can say “I,” that can be aware of himself as a separate entity.”
—Erich Fromm (1900–1980)
“Perhaps it is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)
“The land is the host and humans merely guests.”
—Chinese proverb.