Loss of mental or physical health can have a tremendous impact on everyone. It can create fear, uncertainty, anger, despair or many other emotions. A family member will find their loved one may be physically present but beyond reach or perhaps you didn’t get a chance to say goodbye. It may be a gradual loss or one that happens suddenly and is hard to come to terms with.

Your relationship with the person may change and they may not be who you remember them as. You may be their carer and your role or relationship has changed. Your loved one's life may hang in balance while you are waiting for news, or perhaps you are losing hope of a cure. Someone may be preoccupied with their health, an obsession or have an addiction, affecting their psychological availability and they may appear detached from everyday life. 

The experience of ambiguous loss may cause other issues such as depression, guilt, anxiety, substance misuse or self-harm. Your grief may be frozen and you may feel in limbo. Perhaps someone you know is affected by one of the following health issues or situations which are classes as ambiguous loss: 

  • Alzheimer’s disease or dementia
  • Coma or on life support
  • A frail older person
  • Stroke or brain injury
  • Addiction or obsession
  • Terminal diagnosis such as cancer
  • Chronic mental illness
  • Degenerative disease
  • Parkinson's Disease or Motor Neurone Disease
  • Life-limiting illness
  • COVID-19/Coronavirus