Tragedy (event)

Last updated
A memorial is often established to remember lives lost in a tragedy such as the Lockerbie air disaster Lockerbie disaster memorial.jpg
A memorial is often established to remember lives lost in a tragedy such as the Lockerbie air disaster

A tragedy is an event of great loss, usually of human life. Such an event is said to be tragic. Traditionally, the event would require "some element of moral failure, some flaw in character, or some extraordinary combination of elements" [1] to be tragic.

Contents

Not every death is considered a tragedy. Rather, it is a precise set of symptoms surrounding the loss that define it as such. [2] There are a variety of factors that define a death as tragic.

An event in which a massive number of deaths occur may be seen as a tragedy. This can be re-enforced by media attention or other public outcry. [3]

A tragedy does not necessarily involve massive death. The death of a single person, e.g., a public figure or a child, may be seen as a tragedy. [3] The person need not necessarily have been famous before death.

Factors that make death a tragedy

Generally, the label of "tragedy" is given to an event based on public perception. [4] There are a number of factors that can make a death be considered a tragedy.

Scope

The scope of an event can affect the public view, and make it appear tragic. This can be the case whether the death toll is high, or if a single, unexpected death occurs in a well-beloved person. [5]

The degree of attachment in the public eye may also impact whether or not the event is publicly labeled as a tragedy. For example, the unexpected death of a preparatory school student that receives heavy media attention may be seen as more tragic than that of a recidivist prisoner who is beaten to death by fellow inmates. [3]

Prematurity

A death may be viewed as a tragedy when it is premature in nature. An elderly person dying of old age is an expectation, but the death of a child or of a young, healthy adult that is not expected by others can be viewed as tragedy. [3]

Publicity

Publicity is a factor in making the public view an event as a tragedy. With publicity of a large number of deaths or even a single death, this plays on the emotions of the general public, and thereby impacts perception. [6]

The range of coverage affects the number of people in whose eyes the event is viewed as tragic. While local coverage may garner sympathy from those in the hometown of the deceased, international coverage may lead the whole world to mourn. [7]

Consequences

The resulting consequences from one or more deaths can be seen as a tragedy. For example, if a large number of persons are killed in a terrorist attack, not only is life lost, but others may lose their sense of security, and this impacts the lives of others in other ways. [8]

Lasting effects

The long-term effects of an event can render it as tragic. Tragedies often have effects that shape those affected, and are remembered even long after, as they clearly impact the future for those involved. They may also be commemorated on anniversaries or whenever they otherwise come to mind. [9] A public tragedy often leads to measures being taken to prevent similar tragic events in the future. [10]

Dealing with tragedy

There are various ways tragedy can affect and influence people long after the event occurs.

The typical reaction to tragedy is heavy grief, followed by a slow recovery. Common feelings following a tragedy include sadness, depression, crying, blame, and guilt. [11] Some people wonder what they did to deserve such suffering. [12]

For some, their faith may be a source of comfort in the wake of tragedy. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

Catharsis is from the Ancient Greek word κάθαρσις, katharsis, meaning "purification" or "cleansing".

In psychoanalytic theory, a defence mechanism is an unconscious psychological operation that functions to protect a person from anxiety-producing thoughts and feelings related to internal conflicts and outer stressors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crisis</span> Chaotic events

A crisis is any event or period that will lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, especially when they occur abruptly, with little or no warning. More loosely, a crisis is a testing time for an emergency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greek tragedy</span> Form of theatre from Ancient Greece

Greek tragedy is one of the three principal theatrical genres from Ancient Greece and Greek inhabited Anatolia, along with comedy and the satyr play. It reached its most significant form in Athens in the 5th century BC, the works of which are sometimes called Attic tragedy.

According to the model of the five stages of grief, those experiencing grief go through five emotions: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Although it is in common use, studies have not confirmed these stages, and the model has been criticized as outdated as well as unhelpful in explaining the grieving process.

Psychological trauma is an emotional response caused by severe distressing events that are outside the normal range of human experiences. It must be understood by the affected person as directly threatening the affected person or their loved ones with death, severe bodily injury, or sexual violence; indirect exposure, such as from watching television news, may be extremely distressing and can produce an involuntary and possibly overwhelming physiological stress response, but does not produce trauma per se. Examples include violence, rape, or a terrorist attack.

Coping refers to conscious strategies used to reduce unpleasant emotions. Coping strategies can be cognitions or behaviors and can be individual or social. To cope is to deal with and overcome struggles and difficulties in life. It is a way for people to maintain their mental and emotional well-being. Everybody has ways of handling difficult events that occur in life, and that is what it means to cope. Coping can be healthy and productive, or destructive and unhealthy. It is recommended that an individual cope in ways that will be beneficial and healthy. "Managing your stress well can help you feel better physically and psychologically and it can impact your ability to perform your best."

Affective forecasting is the prediction of one's affect in the future. As a process that influences preferences, decisions, and behavior, affective forecasting is studied by both psychologists and economists, with broad applications.

Disenfranchised grief is a term coined by Dr. Kenneth J. Doka in 1989. This concept describes the fact that some forms of grief are not acknowledged on a personal or societal level in modern day Eurocentric culture. For example, those around you may not view your loss as a significant loss, and they may think you don’t have the right to grieve. They might not like how you may or may not be expressing your grief, and thus they may feel uncomfortable, or judgmental. This is not a conscious way of thinking for most individuals, as it is deeply engrained in our psyche. This can be extremely isolating, and push you to question the depth of your grief and the loss you’ve experienced. This concept is viewed as a ”type of grief”, but it more so can be viewed as a "side effect" of grief. This also is not only applicable to grief in the case of death, but also the many other forms of grief. There are few support systems, rituals, traditions, or institutions such as bereavement leave available to those experiencing grief and loss.

Appraisal theory is the theory in psychology that emotions are extracted from our evaluations of events that cause specific reactions in different people. Essentially, our appraisal of a situation causes an emotional, or affective, response that is going to be based on that appraisal. An example of this is going on a first date. If the date is perceived as positive, one might feel happiness, joy, giddiness, excitement, and/or anticipation, because they have appraised this event as one that could have positive long-term effects, i.e. starting a new relationship, engagement, or even marriage. On the other hand, if the date is perceived negatively, then our emotions, as a result, might include dejection, sadness, emptiness, or fear. Reasoning and understanding of one's emotional reaction becomes important for future appraisals as well. The important aspect of the appraisal theory is that it accounts for individual variability in emotional reactions to the same event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grief counseling</span> Therapy for responses to loss

Grief counseling is a form of psychotherapy that aims to help people cope with the physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and cognitive responses to loss. These experiences are commonly thought to be brought on by a loved person's death, but may more broadly be understood as shaped by any significant life-altering loss.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Envy</span> Pain at the sight of anothers good fortune

Envy is an emotion which occurs when a person lacks another's quality, skill, achievement, or possession and wishes that the other lacked it.

Social comparison bias is the tendency to have feelings of dislike and competitiveness with someone seen as physically, socially, or mentally better than oneself. Social comparison bias or social comparison theory is the idea that individuals determine their own worth based on how they compare to others. The theory was developed in 1954 by psychologist Leon Festinger. This can be compared to social comparison, which is believed to be central to achievement motivation, feelings of injustice, depression, jealousy, and people's willingness to remain in relationships or jobs. The basis of the theory is that people are believed to compete for the best outcome in relation to their peers. For example, one might make a comparison between the low-end department stores they go to frequently and the designer stores of their peers. Such comparisons may evoke feelings of resentment, anger, and envy with their peers. This bias revolves mostly around wealth and social status; it is unconscious and people who make these are largely unaware of them. In most cases, people try to compare themselves to those in their peer group or with whom they are similar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psychological stress</span> Feeling of strain and pressure

In psychology, stress is a feeling of emotional strain and pressure. Stress is a type of psychological pain. Small amounts of stress may be beneficial, as it can improve athletic performance, motivation and reaction to the environment. Excessive amounts of stress, however, can increase the risk of strokes, heart attacks, ulcers, and mental illnesses such as depression and also aggravation of a pre-existing condition.

One of the most common ways that people cope with trauma is through the comfort found in religious or spiritual practices. Psychologists of religion have performed multiple studies to measure the positive and negative effects of this coping style. Leading researchers have split religious coping into two categories: positive religious coping and negative religious coping. Individuals who use positive religious coping are likely to seek spiritual support and look for meaning in a traumatic situation. Negative religious coping expresses conflict, question, and doubt regarding issues of God and faith.

Affect regulation and "affect regulation theory" are important concepts in psychiatry and psychology and in close relation with emotion regulation. However, the latter is a reflection of an individual's mood status rather than their affect. Affect regulation is the actual performance one can demonstrate in a difficult situation regardless of what their mood or emotions are. It is tightly related to the quality of executive and cognitive functions and that is what distinguishes this concept from emotion regulation. One can have a low emotional control but a high level of control on his or her affect, and therefore, demonstrate a normal interpersonal functioning as a result of intact cognition.

PhotoDNA is a proprietary image-identification and content filtering technology widely used by online service providers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Effects of climate change on mental health</span> Effects of climate change on mental health

The effects of climate change on mental health and wellbeing are documented. This is especially the case for vulnerable populations and those with pre-existing serious mental illness. There are three broad pathways by which these effects can take place: directly, indirectly or via awareness. The direct pathway includes stress-related conditions caused by exposure to extreme weather events. These include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Scientific studies have linked mental health to several climate-related exposures. These include heat, humidity, rainfall, drought, wildfires and floods. The indirect pathway can be disruption to economic and social activities. An example is when an area of farmland is less able to produce food. The third pathway can be of mere awareness of the climate change threat, even by individuals who are not otherwise affected by it.

Intuitive grief and instrumental grief are two patterns of grieving styles identified by psychologists Terry Martin and Kenneth Doka.

The dual process model of coping is a model for coping with grief developed by Margaret Stroebe and Henk Schut. This model seeks to address shortcomings of prior models of coping, and provide a framework that better represents the natural variation in coping experience on a day to day basis.

References

  1. "Court Agrees: 'Tragedy' is Overused | the Seattle Times".
  2. Doherty, George W. Crisis Intervention Training for Disaster Workers: An Introduction. p. 12.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Lattanzi-Licht, Marcia E.; Kenneth J. Doka. Coping with public tragedy. p. 1.
  4. Lattanzi-Licht, Marcia E.; Kenneth J. Doka. Coping with public tragedy. p. 11.
  5. Lattanzi-Licht, Marcia E.; Kenneth J. Doka. Coping with public tragedy. p. 5.
  6. Lattanzi-Licht, Marcia E.; Kenneth J. Doka. Coping with public tragedy. p. 3.
  7. Lattanzi-Licht, Marcia E.; Kenneth J. Doka. Coping with public tragedy. p. 9.
  8. Lattanzi-Licht, Marcia E.; Kenneth J. Doka. Coping with public tragedy. p. 8.
  9. Disaster Spiritual Care: Practical Clergy Responses to Community, Regional; by Stephen B. Roberts, Willard W. C. Ashley; ISBN   978-1-59473-240-9; page 67
  10. Roberts, Stephen B.; Willard W. C. Ashley (2008). Disaster Spiritual Care: Practical Clergy Responses to Community, Regional, and National Tragedy. p. 86. ISBN   978-1-59473-240-9.
  11. Alvin F. Poussaint, M.D. (February 1977). "Tragedy: A psychiatrist offers ways to deal with trauma and grief". Ebony Magazine.
  12. Ramsey, Tara. Coping with Tragedy. p. 33.
  13. Owens, Ken. Faith in the Fast Lane. p. 106.