that the death of a baby due to SIDS is extremely hard on the parents, for they
feel a great amount of self blame. It takes approximately three years or more
for the parents to recover from the death of a baby due to SIDS ( Defrain 229).
What is clear is that people are really never the same not only after a death
due to SIDS, but also a stillbirth or miscarriage as well. The parents must
learn that they can heal emotionally and that they can and must go on for their
future and their own good (Defrain 229). They need to learn that life will get
better even though the memory that they will always have of the child will exist
in their hearts and minds. Seeking professional help to cope with such an event
is a good idea. Deep emotional feelings that are bottled up need to be
expressed and brought out into the open. This is very beneficial not only for
the parents but for the entire family as well.
The death of an infant due to SIDS may also cause parental unconscious
conflicts. Parents have been shown to have the preoccupation with death in
their dreams and there spouses ( Arno 53). Parents also may exhibit a mode of
rejecting their child?s aliveness, independence or uniqueness ( Arno 54). These
can be attributed to the obvious stress load that SIDS puts on the family. It
shows that the pain and loss of a child reaches deep into the emotions of
parents. During this time husband and wife may become closer to one another and
show more feelings and compassion for one anther. These are defense mechanisms
that are used to ease the pain of the passing of the infant. Denial may bring
the parents closer to one another as they concentrate on other matters in order
to lessen the loss of the child. These can be considered to be normal
psychologically as long as they do not get out of hand to the point where it may
go on to such drastic measures such as suicide. This is a harsh reality, that
sometimes is best dealt with by seeking professional help.
The surviving child in the SIDS family is an important factor. The
mental health of a child that is part of such a loss is very important.
Children grieve, often deeply, and the unexpected loss of a sibling due to SIDS
elicits feeling from other family members that changes the family structure
(Mandell 217). It is of utter importance to bring out the child?s feelings into
the open and to see how they feel about it. Negative feelings that are kept
inside by the child may hurt the child?s development and how he grows up. It is
important to remember that the child is being discussed. An older child or
teenager still has a great amount of sorrow but is more understanding and
realistic to what has transpired.
It is now obvious that the impact that sudden infant death syndrome has
on the family and friends can be considered to be tragic and shocking to say the
least. Other health professionals also are at times struck by how SIDS can so
suddenly take a infants life away. The role of the family?s doctor and health
care professionals are important in coping with this loss of life (Limerick 147).
Providing early explanations and reassurance to the family along with the
support of counselors and parents? organizations are helpful especially when
there are legal investigations, and when there are no clear causes of death.
It is up to such health professionals to provide families with the support and
the advice that they need in order to cope with their loss. Losing an infant to
SIDS can be one of the most devastating event in the lives of many parents,
especially when they might feel that the death was their fault, when a lot of
times it was due to outside circumstances that are beyond their control. There
are some things that parents can have no control over, and SIDS is one of these
tragic events that can happen to a family unit.
Overall, I felt that I have explained SIDS, both causal and
psychologically to a full extent. SIDS is a real problem in our society today,
and it is one that can and must be dealt with, especially in USA. We have a
very high infant mortality rate for a country of our stature. Our health care
is top notch, but our babies are still not surviving. This can be prevented.
The emotional strain that SIDS puts on parents is unbelievable, and can not be
understood to its fullest extent unless one was to experience it first hand, in
my opinion. There is a lot of research that is being done in this area to try
to combat the causes of SIDS, which many times is incorrectly used as a cause of
death among infants. This is a shame, because it may lead researchers who study
these cases in the wrong direction. However, new research with good counseling
offers new hope.
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