Abstract
Objective
to understand the absence of funeral rituals in the process of living the grief process of Brazilian families who lost loved ones by COVID-19.
Method
this is a qualitative documental research carried out in three newspapers available online. Sixty-seven reports were analyzed, divided into two categories; the first deals with psychological suffering derived from social isolation, such as anxiety, depression, loneliness and fear; and the second deals with the different manifestations of grief and the psychological effect of losses amidst the pandemic.
Result:
the ritualization of death is inseparable from the process of elaboration of the losses. The absence of funeral rituals combined with social dictatorship can have a challenging impact on society and mental healthcare professionals. Non-presential strategies for showing affection and elaborating the loss can ease the isolation imposed by the pandemic.
Conclusions and implications for practice
the human living process is full of rites of passage and death-dying rituals prove to be necessary for the experience of farewell, of the certainty of the distance between loved ones and family. It implies resolving modes of emotional, mental and even physical recording of the public expression of griever’s suffering and not forgetting the Being’s to death. It impacts care practice for reception, guidance and elaboration of losses for the maintenance of a healthy life for grievers, which proposes theoretical-reflective arguments in mental healthcare and in the shelter of grievers resulting from the pandemic.
Keywords:
Bereavement; Funeral Rites; Coronavirus Infections; Death; Psychology
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