Grieving, Mental Illness, and End of Life

"Grieving, Mental Illness, and End of Life" invites participants to reflect on experiences of grief and loss through a short film that explores what happens when a man learns his mentally ill brother has signed a do-not-resuscitate order and is forced to choose whether or not to respect his wishes. Participants will read and reflect on the 5 Stages of Grief, and then use that knowledge to help them understand more about the films' characters. Participants are invited to respond to an interpret the film, and their thoughts and feelings about it, through reflection and discussion. The class concludes with a chance to reflect and set intentions around supporting ourselves.

Notes:
- Because suicide and end-of-life decisions are included in this Class, we recommend having a mental health professional (counseling services) in the room when teaching this class for Participants to connect with in real time, if needed.
- This class includes supplementary materials that can be completed at the start of class or assigned as homework. If assigned as homework, the class duration may be approximately 15 minutes shorter.
- This class touches on suicide and grief. Both of these topics are very complex. The prompts are designed to contain the conversation within a safe structure. We've also provided two additional resources that are not explicitly included in the Class structure and that can give the Instructor and Participants additional insight into areas to be aware of during the discussion, including the long-term mental and physical health impacts of suicide on survivors as well as manifestations of grief beyond the Kubler-Ross model.