how different cultures deal with grief and mourning

Sadness is a universal emotion. It’s something we all feel, no matter where we come from or what we’ve been through. Grief comes to all of us and as human beings who form close relationships with other people, it is hard to avoid.

studies Sad brains — whether it’s scans of brain regions that process grief, or measurements of the stress hormone cortisol that’s released in grief — no differences are shown with regard to race, age, or religion. People of all cultures grieve; We all feel grief, loss, and hopelessness. We do it – and show it – in different ways.

James Avrilprofessor of psychology in the US, compared this to sexual feelings that, like sadness, are biologically driven but are expressed in elaborately different social contexts.

Here are several examples of how grief and mourning can look very different depending on where you live and where you come from.

1. Collective grief is common

When it comes to grief in the West, the focus is often on the individual. People talk about their personal grief, and counseling is usually arranged for just one person — even support groups are attended by individual members. But the reality is that a family — or tribe for many Indigenous people — grieves communally, and in some cultures this is more pronounced than in others.

in Hindu families In India, for example, relatives and friends gather to support the immediate family in a 13-day ritual. The widow is no longer…