"Meaning making is a process, not an outcome or achievement."
Dr. J. William Worden, grief expert
Impacts of Sibling Loss
Siblings may deal with bouts of anxiety, anger, and depression resulting from the loss.
Some siblings may face judgmental attitudes that compound the grieving process.
Parents are often emotionally unavailable to siblings due to their grief.
Siblings may feel that no one can relate to their loss experience.
Sibling loss is often dismissed or minimized.
Siblings may develop an intense fear of dying and question their mortality.
The question becomes who am I now without my sibling?
Sibling loss changes the family dynamic and new roles will be assigned.
The faith of siblings may increase or decrease resulting from the loss.
Cicirelli, V. (2009). Sibling death and fear in relation in depressive symptomatology in older adults. The Journal of Gerontology, Series B, 64B (1), 24-32.
Pretorius, G., Halstead-Clarke, J. & Morgan, B. (2010). The lived experience of losing a sibling through murder. The Info-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology, 10(1), 1-13.