Losing a Mother: Lasting Impacts on Daughters' Health and Emotions
Losing a mother can have profound and lasting effects on daughters, as highlighted by recent studies. The loss can trigger various emotional responses and even impact physical health. Support organisations are available to help cope with grief.
Research shows that women who lose their mothers are more likely to engage in binge drinking and experience a decline in self-esteem. They may also feel a loss of personal mastery. The impact goes beyond clinical symptoms, affecting support systems, traditions, and relationships. The loss can be sudden or follow a long decline in health, making it a traumatic experience regardless of age.
Normal emotions in the year following such a loss can include regret, remorse, anxiety, guilt, emptiness, rage, anger, sadness, and numbness. A 2021 study found links between parental loss and depression, as well as a compromised sense of self in young adults. Interestingly, the death of a mother appears to have more negative effects on daughters than on sons.
Grief is not just emotional; it's physical too. It's linked to increased chances of cancer, cardiac issues, immune disorders, and high blood pressure. A 2015 study found that women often have a more intense grief response and struggle more to adjust to the loss of a parent. Grief can occur in stages with immediate symptoms.
Organisations like 'Verwaiste Eltern und trauernde Geschwister München e.V.' and 'Leere Wiege Hannover e.V.' offer support for daughters who have lost their mothers. They provide seminars, memorial places, grief counseling, group meetings, and memorial events to help process and cope with grief.
