Grief

Grief is often linked as an emotional response to a death of a friend or a family member.

Apparently, grief has been defined by Sue Morris of the Australian Psychological Society, as not only an
intense emotional and physical reaction a person experiences after a loved ones death but an intense
yearning to be with that person again. (Morris, 2016) But since death of a loved one is believed to be the
strongest stressor in ones life (Holmes & Rahe, 1967), it has been the common precursor to grief.
Grief has been considered as a natural response to a loss. In fact, human beings have been
considered to be naturally resilient and can endure loss. But the problem is that not all people can be
resilient and not all people can cope effectively. Some struggle with grief for longer periods of time and
cannot go back to their normal routine and that is called complicated grief and people who suffer from
this can consult a licensed psychologist or a mental health professional (American Psychological
Association, 2016). With that, a psychologist can be of help in terms of building resilience to the person
and helping the person develop strategies to cope with their sadness. One of the treatments psychologists
do is psychotherapy (American Psychological Association, 2016).
According to Stephenson (1985), there are three types of losses a person can experience which
can possibly lead to grief. One of which is a loss of a significant person, loss of a significant object and
loss of a part of the self. Again, it does not necessarily mean that you have to loss something permanently
to experience grief but it happens even during temporary losses. Stephenson (1985) further mentioned in
his book that a separation from a significant person may result to reactions that are closely the same to
those who actually experience death. This only implies that separation may result to grief as well. That is
why homesickness can now be defined as a form of grief.

Homesickness
Homesickness is not a new phenomenon. As a matter of fact the said term is existent in many
languages. It is used in describing psychological experiences which happens after a significant transition.
It is usually evident in cases where in a person leaves home, which includes the persons family and
friends, to live in another location. It is common among the young population who leave home for the
purpose of education, training and vocation.
At the young age of seven, children in United Kingdom leave home and become boarders to
attend a primary school. These circumstances are often among those belonging in the upper socioeconomic class. As part of an advantaged educational system in U.K, children are being sent to schools.
But in the moment they violate the law and commit even minor crimes, they are also to be discharged
from their homes.
Homesickness is commonly linked to experiences of missing home. Some of the definitions for
this term even include symptoms. For example, a common translation is depressed by absence from
home. An indication of this is that a person strongly longs and laments to return to the departed home. As
a result, the person then becomes depressed (Fisher, 1989).
According to the American Psychiatric Association, while separation anxiety disorder is
identified by inappropriate and excessive fear or anxiety concerning separation from those to whom the
individual is attached, the expression of homesickness are noticeable after a disengagement and consists
both the presence of depression and anxiety. In DSM terms, homesickness may be similar to Separation
Anxiety Disorder, but it may be more appropriate to classify it as either an Adjustment Disorder tied with
anxiety and depressed mood, or for immigrants and foreign students as Acculturation Difficulty (2013).
Kerns (2009) defined homesickness as the distress or impairment caused by an actual or
anticipated separation from home and people and things youre familiar with. Thruber (2007) adds that
its cognitive trademark is being absorbed thinking about home and attachment objects. People suffering
from homesickness generally notice a combination of depressive and anxious symptoms, disinterested
behavior and has trouble concentrating on topics unrelated to home (Thurber, 1999).
According to Fisher (2013), homesickness is said to be similar with grief in that it seems to have
a very distinct indication of being distressed which is linked with a recognized source. However serious
the grief response may be, it is usually thought of as non-clinical since grieving is considered to be a
natural response to sorrow.

It appears that in the case of both the grief and homesickness reaction patterns, a single
psychogenic factor (life event), the properties of which are known, can precipitate the experience of a
distress reaction which is engineered within the constraint of the operation of normal mechanisms.
One possibility is that both grief and homesickness are forms of reactive depression which could
be clinical in some cases and which differ in cognitive aspects from other forms of depression.
A common denominator central to depressed mood may be loss of control. The homesick person
desires to (but cannot) restore the daily experience of being at home; the bereaved cannot restore the
experience of being with the deceased. It is the lack of ability to reverse the situation that is the common
denominator which leads to depression.
OFWs in the Philippines
Philippines, as part of the Third World countries, has citizens who resort to working abroad
thinking of giving their families a better and a well-off life. Knowing that Philippines has an unstable
economic situation, low employment rate and poor benefits of Filipino workers, who would not be
encouraged to leave this country and get the benefits and opportunities abroad? However, leaving its
motherland implies a long list of sacrifices.
One of the drawbacks of seafarers is being separated from their family members and its limited
ability to stay in touch with them while on board. Working abroad entails the idea that their primary
means of communication will only be through mobile phones to call and send messages to their loved
ones. It also implies that they are deprived of watching their children grow and guiding them as well.
Hence, developing homesickness for both seafarers and their families is unavoidable.
A research was conducted among harbor physicians in Rotterdam and identified three leading
psychological difficulties between seafarers which were loneliness, homesickness and burn-out
syndrome (Thomas, Sampson, & Zhao, 2004). One of the primary reasons why these problems develop is
the fact that seafarers are away from their loved ones. The stress caused by this separation may result to
homesickness, marital and family problems which could lead to suicides at sea.

We cannot deny the fact that life on board is very stressful due to hectic schedule, onboard
politics and unavailability of fresh food. However, besides these issues, their longing for love and
affection from their families contribute to the aggravation of their stress. Although most of the seafarers
can accept that their social life would be reduced for months, being detached from their families is what
they could not emotionally and physically grasp. There are seafarers who just started their married life
while others have just freshly experienced being a parent. The fact of being away for several months from
their families and not being able to witness their child growing up by their side, would hurt both parties
which often result for seafarers to give up their career on the boat (Kantharia, 2013). In addition,
homesickness plays a significant role why seafarers have reduced their level of satisfaction regarding
their job (Elif & Ozcan).
A study was conducted about the problems encountered by seafarers onboard. There were five
most common problems identified: homesickness and boredom, seafarers feel underrated and have low
self-esteem, job securities, seafarers lack ability to concentrate on the job and inability to access and use
service equipments. Based on their analysis, seafarers often face homesickness and boredom because of
the inability to talk to their families (Akindehin, et al., 2015)
Indeed, the life of a seafarer is very challenging, especially for Filipinos. Knowing that the
Filipino culture has a strong and tight family bond, it is extra hard for them to be separated from their
loved ones. In a study, many of the respondents mentioned that the two hardest parts of working abroad
are the rough sea and the feeling of homesickness (Lindgren & Nilsson, 2012). Being detached from their
family for several months or years can be very difficult and some might find it hard to cope and therefore
lead to some serious psychological problems. In order for them to combat this feeling of homesickness,
they spend their leisure time with their colleagues and even mentioned that they are like a family on
board. However, the love and care coming from their families are still different from what they
experience on the boat. Some seafarers, since most Filipinos are Christians, turn to their religion when

they experience homesickness. Basically, seafarers have different strategies in coping each time they feel
distressed from being away from their homes.

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