Why do we crave closure?
All In The Mind
2 DAYS AGO
Why do we crave closure?
Why do we crave closure?

All In The Mind
2 DAYS AGO
Shownote
Shownote
Closure can feel like the ultimate solution to help us heal. But is it all it's
cracked up to be?
Today, we learn about ambiguous loss — the type of grief that comes without
closure.
We know navigating uncertainty is tricky, so what practical steps can we take to
process this kind of loss?
A heads up, this episode touches on some heavy topics around loss and trauma.
Guests:
Carly DoberPsychologist
Dr Pauline BossProfessor emeritus, University of MinnesotaAuthor, Myth of
Closure: Ambiguous Loss in a Time of Pandemic
[https://www.ambiguousloss.com/resources/] Author, Change and Ambiguous Loss:
Learning to Live with Unresolved Grief
[https://www.ambiguousloss.com/resources/]
Credits:
* Presenter/producer: Sana Qadar
* Senior producer: James Bullen
* Producer: Rose Kerr
* Sound engineer: Roi Huberman
More information:
* The psychology of closure — and why some need it more than others
[https://theconversation.com/the-psychology-of-closure-and-why-some-need-it-more-than-others-104159]
* Motivated closing of the mind: "seizing" and "freezing"
[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8637961/]
* Beyond dogmatism: The need for closure as related to religion
[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13674670210144130?journalCode=cmhr20]
* Need for cognitive closure, tolerance for ambiguity, and perfectionism in
medical school applicants [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7189591/]
* Ambiguous loss [https://www.ambiguousloss.com/]
To explore more great episodes from the award-winning psychology podcast All in
the Mind with host Sana Qadar, download the ABC Listen app (Australia) or search
'ABC All in the Mind podcast' wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find
more episodes on mental health, trauma, attachment theory, wellness hacks, and
family relationships. You'll also hear interviews with experts like Esther
Perel, Billy Garvey and Ethan Kross. All in the Mind is created for ABC's Radio
National by specialist journalists and reporters at the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation.
Highlights
Highlights
This episode explores why the human desire for certainty can make loss especially difficult to process. Through personal experience and psychological insight, it examines what healing can look like when no clear ending is available.
Chapters
Chapters
When Seeking Justice Makes Closure Feel Even Further Away
00:00Why Some Losses Remain Unresolved—and Keep Grief Alive
06:26The Painful Uncertainty Behind Friendship Breakups
12:42How to Move Forward Without Getting a Final Answer
18:50Transcript
Transcript
Carly Dober: ABC Listen. Podcasts, radio, news, music and more.
Sana Qadar: This will had come about in the most suspicious circumstances you could possibly imagine. Who gets what when someone dies, and who decides? The difficulty with undue influence oft...
