J. Bowlby, On loss

“Loss of a loved person is one of the most intensely painful experiences any human being can suffer. And not only is it painful to experience but it is also painful to witness, if only because we are so impotent to help. To the bereaved nothing but the return of the lost person can bring true comfort; should what we provide fall short of that it is felt almost as an insult. That, perhaps, explains a bias that runs through so much of the older literature on how human beings respond to loss. Whether an author is discussing the effects of loss on an adult or child, there is a tendency to underestimate how intensely distressing and disabling loss usually is and for how long the distress, and often disablement, commonly lasts. Conversely, there is a tendency to suppose that a normal, healthy person can and should get over a bereavement not only fairly rapidly but also completely.” (From John Bowlby's Attachment & Loss Trilogy, Vol. 3 pg 8).