Géraldine Zamansky, journalist for the Magazine de la Santé on France 5, and every weekend on franceinfo, today evokes the great difficulties of mourning for families in our society, in particular since funeral rituals and times of meditation around our dead have been reduced.
franceinfo: Every deceased and every bereaved family almost deserves a royal tribute?
Geraldine Zamansky: Of course, that’s impossible. But there needs to be a better middle ground. For normal citizens, the evolution of society has reduced several traditional gathering times around the dead. And this loss of collective funeral rites would be the cause of an increase in so-called complicated bereavements. That is, greater difficulties in surviving a loved one. Among the problematic developments, the majority share of end of life in hospital.
However, these circumstances no longer facilitate the collective vigil of the body at home, for example. This ritual, practiced by previous generations, made it possible to do what these days requires hours of waiting for some of our neighbors: to see the body. When it comes to a loved one, this vision can be trying but it would help to “certify” the reality of the death. To materialize the breakup. As those who experience the drama of a disappearance well know, and who speak of an impossible mourning…
But can a form of vigil still be organized in specialized establishments? And then the funeral also fulfills this function?
You are right, places exist, sometimes free of charge in the hospital, just before transport, to greet the deceased before the closing of the coffin. And the advantage of the group, made up of people more or less affected, is that it creates support. The set can quite be deployed in the context of the funeral.
But here again, the current decline in religious practices complicates this step. Materially, unless you have a very large house, it is difficult to find an almost free place like a church to meet! And of course, beyond the walls where it is practiced, faith can bring the certainty of future reunions, for example, instead of a meaningless absence.
We necessarily think of the relatives of people who died of Covid-19 during the peaks of the epidemic. They were almost entirely deprived of ritual?
During the worst weeks of confinement, the restrictions could prevent the accompaniment of the last moments, sometimes even to see the body, and to make a ceremony. The suffering of the people concerned was examined by the Covideuil study. These people increased their consumption of anxiolytic and antidepressant drugs. And nearly half request psychological support, according to initial results published this summer. To help them, it may be necessary at least, as in other countries, for France to pay national tribute to its more than 150,000 Covid deaths.