LAUSR

This paper explores the effects of mourning in isolation. The authors posit that the pandemic-induced quarantine has impacted mourning processes in a negative manner, particularly insofar as the relational aspects of mourning are concerned. Through a phenomenological study based on a survey of 56 mental health care professionals, the authors examine individual experiences of living through the pandemic while enduring loss and subsequent bereavement in socially isolative conditions. The data, accompanied by several case examples, suggests that during the pandemic loss and mourning were complicated by isolation, the lack of communal grieving rituals and the presence of an increase in mental health disorders. Furthermore, the authors hypothesize that during the Covid-19 pandemic, the absence of positive relational support will result in a greater number of cases of delayed, stalled, and prolonged mourning, as well as Persistent Complex Bereavement.