ABSTRACT
In the hours after death, we sometimes notice a mourner making fleeting identifications with the physical traits of the lost person. These identifications can be unhealthy, such as when the mourner adopts the symptoms of the last illness. Note the difference between the psychological scheme of the perennial mourner and the engulfed mourner. The perennial mourner replays the relationship endlessly, keeping the boundaries between him- or herself and the lost other clearly defined. The engulfed mourner has no sense that unresolved grief is the source of his or her problem. An engulfed mourner has turned inward the anger felt toward the lost other and the resulting guilt. Often the story lines of engulfed mourners' dreams reflect their internal conflicts; identification with both loved and hated aspects of the lost person. Engulfed mourners are, by definition, depressed; therefore, their dreams deal with their depression.
