ABSTRACT
Robert Kastenbaum uses the term bereavement overload to describe the experience of suffering many deaths with a certain period of time. The term applies well to the mourner, the caregiver, and the nation as a whole. It is a natural complicator to grief experiences and requires special attention be paid to the needs of mourner. The chapter relates the case of a family, where death of the father resulted in bereavement overload for these children. It also talks about clergyman who experienced the death of eighteen parishioners in his church. After officiating at twenty four funerals he would certainly meet the criteria for bereavement overload. The explosion of the space shuttle Challenger was an example of bereavement overload for the nation. Bereavement overload is a natural complicator to the experiences of grief and requires that special attention be paid to the needs of the mourner.
