ADJUSTMENT TO

LOSS OF SPOUSE

C.THIVYAA
B.SC.PSYCHOLOGY
The loss of spouse,whether as a result of death or
divorce,presents many adjustment problems for the middle-aged
man or woman,but especially for the woman.

The middle-aged woman whose husband dies,or who is

divorced,experiences extreme feelings of loneliness.

•LOSS BY DIVORCE
•LOSS BY DEATH
•REMARRIAGE
LOSS BY DIVORCE :
A woman whose husband divorced her to
marry someone else will have different reactions from those of a
women who found her marriage intolerable and,as a
result,initiated the divorce herself.

There are two problems that are especially

serious for middle-aged,
women – social activities and economic well-being.

For divorced women,social problems are even

harder to cope with than they are for those who are widowed.Not
only may the divorced woman be excluded from social
activities,but,even worse,she often loses old friends.

The second major problem many middle-aged

woman face after divorce is economic.
LOSS BY DEATH:
Except when death follows a long and
terminal illness.
This course,as conroy has pointed out,has
four stages:
First,numbness, when the individual is
unable to grasp the reality of the death of the loved one;
Second,pining,characterized by recollections
of past experiences and the strong wish that they could
continue;
Third,depression,resulting from acceptance
of death during which the individual goes into solitude and
often resorts to some form of escape,such as pills or alcohol;
Fourth,recovery,in which the individual
accepts the death of the loved one and tries to build a new
pattern of life with interest and activities to fill the void.

Death in middle age is far more common

among men than among women.
REMARRIAGE:
Middle – aged men and women who lose their
spouses due to divorce or death make reasonably satifactory
adjustments to being single after a period of time. However,most
tend to be lonely and find the single status unsatisfatory.

Most middle-aged men and women in the American

culture of today prefer to follow the traditional pattern and
remarry.