The Family Stress Theory

I can recall last year when my grandmother was really ill. This placed some amount of stress on my family because the family’s resource had to be used in caring for my grandmother. The workload had to be divided amoung family members based on the resources they posses. One member was asked to be the caregiver because she was unemployed while other members would assist by sending money or groceries as the need arise.  My aunt had to be visiting the parish of St. Elizabeth frequently to visit her. Even though we were all caring for her we were anticipating her death. When she eventually die the family was shaken up just the same. It was as though no one wanted to deal with the reality that she was gone. Even though the stressor in this case was gradual I do not believe that it helped the family to cope. After grandma died the family had to come together to deal with this external stressor. We had to pool our resources together in order to deal with the funeral arrangements. Some of the resources include money, skills, emotional support etc.

My aunt who is the eldest child for my grandmother was depressed and I had to be there to comfort her from time to time. She also got emotional support through the church she attends. The church is one community resource the family can utilize when trying to cope with stressors that may arise when dealing with family stress or crisis.

In my family’s situation I wouldn’t say it was a crisis because in dealing with this situation we had to strike a balance with our family life and maintaining order in the family and other activities such as work, school etc. One way for me to cope with the loss of my grandmother is to avoid visiting the country because I have a feeling of emptiness inside me whenever I think of going to the back for a visit.