Pei-Ling Wu
Department of Thanatology and Health Counseling, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Science
Yu-Chan Li
Department of Thanatology and Health Counseling, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Science
The purpose of this study is to explore the grief reactions of two surviving siblings’ after two sibling deaths and their impacts on their sibling relationships. The subjects were two surviving siblings in the same family who had lost two siblings to illness or suicide. A semistructured interview was conducted and analyzed and the results are described in three parts, which include: 1) “Deprivation—visible parting leaves behind an invisible impact.” This section details the interactions between the siblings around the time when the sibling deaths occur. 2) “Grief—the heart is in mourning; visiting the scene is a repeated strike.” This section discusses how death caused by illness or suicide affects the grief reactions amongst the surviving siblings who can be either in a close-knit relationship or in a rift. 3) “Love—the sibling relationship ebbs and flow with love or weight of burden.” This section discusses how the surviving individual and the relationship with his/her surviving sibling are influenced by the death.
Keywords: grief reactions, sibling relationships, surviving sibling