2015 Volume 14 Issue 1 Pages 135-143
A person who is struck by deep grief due to the loss of, or unwanted separation from, his/her family, spouse or the one he/she loves is believed to take a long and gradual recovery process from the state of severe mental suffering. This study conducted interviews on ten people who went through such experience to find out how their painful loss or separation took place, their psychological states, their actions in the process of recovery afterwards, the psychological change brought about by such actions, etc.
The result found that the activities recognized by the sufferers as effective in facilitating the recovery process included “creative activities, such as painting, crafting, writing, etc.” along with “social activities, such as works and volunteering”, “communications with close friends and relatives”, etc. The creative activities referred here are voluntary ones and exclude “art therapy” implemented as a part of psychotherapy.
