The aftermath of loss

McNeil, Catriona

doi:10.5694/mja17.00567

Topics

Why had we all chosen specialties that walk hand in hand with the spectre of death — at once fighting and accepting its inevitability?

We’ve all been there — at some function or other, perhaps a glass of wine in one hand and a canapé balanced precariously in the other. Making polite conversation with someone you don’t know. Your partner is on the other side of the room, reminiscing with old school friends, or work colleagues, or the family of the groom.

1 Chris O'Brien Lifehouse, Sydney, NSW
2 University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW

Correspondence: catriona.mcneil@lh.org.au

1. Davis CG. The tormented and the transformed: understanding responses to loss and trauma. In: Neimeyer RA, editor. Meaning, reconstruction and the experience of loss. 1st ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2001; pp 137-155.
2. Dunmore H. Helen Dunmore: facing mortality and what we leave behind. The Guardian 2017; 4 Mar. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/04/helen-dunmore-facing-mortality-birdcage-walk (accessed Oct 2017).
3. Calhoun LG, Tedeschi RG. Posttraumatic growth: the positive lessons of loss. In: Neimeyer RA, editor. Meaning reconstruction and the experience of loss. 1st ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2001; pp 157-172.

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