Losses during the pandemic: Varieties and features of experience
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to outline the processes of complication of personal losses during the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify the types of losses relevant for this period. The main research methods are frequency analysis, synthesis, generalization. The consequences of loss experiencing are defined as psychological deficit voids that destroy the integrity of the individual’s lifeworld. It is found that in case of belated processing of loss, of its avoidance and denial practices there are a number of possible negative consequences: reduction of individual resources, reduction of overall quality of the life, weakening of psychological mechanisms of protection and control, slowing down of vital activity, activation of various “mutations”, and distortion in the processes of self-identification, perception of space and time, the formation of life plans and prospects, fixation on the object of loss, and the impossibility of its acceptance, exacerbation of crisis states. There are identified the current types of losses experienced by a person during a pandemic. There are three most common losses: loss of opportunities that were expected (53.4%), loss of confidence in the future (44.8%), and loss of serenity (39.7%). Moderately spread losses are also determined: loss of the rest (29.3%), loss of money (24.1%), loss of good sleep (22.4%), loss of self-confidence (22.4%), and loss of meaningful communication (22.4%). It is found that during the pandemic, the probability of trust in others loss (15.5%) is much higher than the loss of trust in oneself (1.7%). The presented results on the actual types of losses during the pandemic and the peculiarities of their experience can be used by specialists for well-timed diagnosis of the loss type, and targeted treatment of its negative consequences will integrate the pain of loss into valuable, existential personal experience. The prospect of further research is to develop a system of measures and methods of socio-psychological support of the individual experiencing one or another type of loss
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