Nearly half of Britons feel uncomfortable talking to someone recently bereaved

Talking about bereavement remains a taboo for many people in Britain, according to a new study.

The research published by the Dying Matters Coalition revealed 47 per cent of people in Britain feel uncomfortable talking to someone if they have been recently bereaved.

Forty per cent only talked about the death if the person who had been bereaved mentioned it first. One in ten said they had avoided talking about it with them and four per cent said they had deliberately avoided seeing them.

Claire Henry, chief executive of the National Council for Palliative Care which leads the Dying Matters Coalition said: “Many people who have lost a loved one not only have to deal with the bereavement itself but also with the reaction of others. Although it can be difficult to know what to say or do for the best when someone has been bereaved, being there to talk, listen and provide support can make a real difference.

“We’re therefore calling on people across the country to show bereaved people they care, especially during the Christmas and New Year period as we know that it can be an especially difficult time if you have been bereaved.”

Of Britons who have been bereaved in the past five years, a third said people changed the subject rather than talk about their loss. One in four experienced someone saying something insensitive about their loss and one in ten lost a friend because of how they reacted to them following their bereavement.

Seven in ten of people who had been bereaved said talking about their loss helped them feel better – but one in five said they wanted to talk but could not find anyone to listen. While four in ten said that they tried not to talk about their loss as they didn’t want to upset anyone.

The findings come at what for many bereaved people can be an especially upsetting time. Almost half of those who have been bereaved in the past five years said that since somebody close to them died, Christmas has been a particularly difficult time of year.

Jane Harris, whose son Joshua died in 2011 aged 22 found that “whenever we talked about our son Josh to friends and family there were awkward silences and people just didn’t know what to say or do for the best or even avoided us altogether.

“The first Christmas after Josh’s death was particularly upsetting, especially when we received Christmas cards that didn’t even acknowledge his death. However, talking about our loss, remembering Josh’s life and being allowed to say his name really helped us, as did the kindness and support from those people who went the extra mile to be there for us.”

Debbie Kerslake, chief executive of Cruse Bereavement Care said: “The death of someone close can be devastating. But at a time when someone really needs the support of family, friends, neighbours and colleagues, too often it is lacking, not because people don’t care, but because they don’t know what to say or do. Every day Cruse Bereavement Care hears from bereaved people who feel hurt and let down by those they thought would be there for them. Cruse believes the ‘Being there’ Campaign is vital, raising awareness of the difficulties bereaved people face, encouraging everyone to be supportive and giving advice to those who want to ‘be there’ but don’t know how.”

Dr Bee Wee, national clinical director for End of Life Care for NHS England, called for a change in our approach to bereavement “so that all of us become more comfortable talking about it and better able to support people after they have lost someone they care about. It’s heartbreaking to know that for many people the distress they experience after a bereavement is compounded by the reaction of other people, which is why I welcome and support the Dying Matters Coalition’s excellent new ‘Being there’ campaign.”

As part of its new ‘Being there’ bereavement campaign Dying Matters has produced a new leaflet, also called ‘Being there’ which has suggestions of things to say and do – and not say and do – when someone has been bereaved, all of which are based on bereaved people’s own experiences.

This is available to download for free at www.dyingmatters.org and hard copies are available to order. The Dying Matters website also has a wide range of information aimed at supporting people who have been bereaved http://dyingmatters.org/page/coping-bereavement