The mourning process with brain injured patients.

Area of Science:

• Neuropsychology
• Psychology of loss

Background:

• Mourning is a complex emotional process following loss.
• Brain injury introduces unique challenges to the mourning process due to cognitive and personality changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To delineate the specific mourning process following brain injury.
• To compare this process with mourning in other pathologies.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative analysis of patient experiences.
• Comparative psychological assessment.

Main Results:

• Brain injury mourning involves grieving lost or altered personality traits.
• The initial stage is marked by denial and isolation defense mechanisms.
• Later stages present depressive reactions and introjective defenses.

Conclusions:

• The mourning process after brain injury is distinct due to the nature of the loss (personality aspects).
• Defense mechanisms evolve from denial/isolation to depressive reactions and introjection.
• Successful adaptation involves integrating residual personality traits for a new life perspective.