In the middle of the night or on a busy day, in good times or already difficult ones, tragedy can strike.

Acute illness, accident, assault, natural disaster...: we know neither the day nor the hour.

Such traumatic events divide lives into a "time before" and a "time after".

They may also cause complicated bereavement. If on top of grief survivors face trauma as well,

coping can become a long-lasting daily struggle with ramifications into all aspects of life.

It is vital to prevent the grieving process from halting that way.

Certain factors may be uncontrollable, such as

• the suddenness of the event
• the perceived preventability of the event (human error, unlikely coincidence)
• the level of violence, injustice, or uncertainty experienced
• whether a survivor witnessed the event or was in mortal danger themselves
• the number of casualties and amount of suffering - mental agony, physical injury... - involved
• survivors' personalities and relationship with the victims
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However, other factors are actually in the hands of responders, relatives, therapists, public figures...:

• the timeliness of learning the news
• the level of detail of the what, when, where of the event (learning about, or recounting them)
• the speed with which help was offered
• the level of personal assistance victims received
• the amount of attention peers, leaders, the press... paid to the event
• whether one has been able to say goodbye - verbally, physically
• the presence or absence of survivor guilt.
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Early and detailed information, a fast and personal response, a proper goodbye

and personal follow-up, may all help mitigate traumatic bereavement,

contributing to a more liveable and dynamic process of mourning and recovery.

"Deaths most likely to precipitate traumatic bereavement include

accidents, disasters, homicide, suicide, and military combat." (Barlé, Wortman & Latack 2017)