Dealing with grief [video]

Grief is a multilayered response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone who has died. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, and philosophical dimensions. While the terms are often used interchangeably, bereavement refers to the state of loss, and grief is the reaction to loss.

The grief associated with death is familiar to all funeral professionals, but it must be noted that individuals grieve for a variety reasons, such as unemployment, ill health or the end of a relationship.

 

This video gives brief insight into the way people deal with grief:

0:05 Seven stages of grief

  • Body reactions
  • Depression and panic
  • Guilt
  • Anger
  • Idealisation
  • Realisation
  • Acceptance

 

0:30 Anger

  • Anger at self
  • Anger at person who has passed away

 

0:40 Guilt

  • Feeling responsible for person’s death
  • Dwelling on what we could have done to prevent death

 

1:02 Depression & Panic

  • Difficulty functioning in life (work, relationships)
  • Fatigue

 

1:30 Body reactions

  • Lack of sleep

 

1:54 How grief affects us

  • Lack of decision making ability

 

2:37 Children and grief

  • Adults may not understand the concept of death
  • Allow children time to move through grief

 

3:02 Funerals

  • Families may not communicate well when in the same room

 

3:29 What to do next

ABC video and article on Ashton [video]

 

ABC article transcript

Have you ever wondered how coffins are built? Or how many are required every year to cater for the number of deaths across Australia?

Ashton Manufacturing on the Gold Coast is Australia’s second-largest manufacturer of coffins.

It produces almost 40,000 coffins every year, which are shipped out to funeral homes across the country.

According to chief executive Rohan Kerr, there is a lot of work that goes into building a coffin.

The raw timber and medium-density fibreboard (MDF) are prepared, sanded and cut to size, then glued and assembled.

They then go through a painting and varnishing process.

Once the coffin is polished, the interior lining is added, and the handles and hinges are attached. The coffins are then quality checked and shipped out to funeral homes.

The coffins range from over-sized through large, medium and small, to child-sized.

“It’s very confronting when you see the child’s ones,” Mr Kerr said.

“You think, ‘That’s a young person that hasn’t had a life’, whereas when you see an older person’s, you know that they’ve got many years of stories to tell and they’ve had a life. It does make me stop and think about it each time.”

While Mr Kerr is in the business of making coffins, he has his own personal experience of the product they make and the ramifications of working in an industry laden with emotion.

“I lost my own son in 2003. Going back through that process of when I first came here, to say wow, that’s the casket that my son was in … so it is confronting.”

According to Mr Kerr, there are about 140,000 deaths per year in Australia, and the death rate changes seasonally.

More deaths occur in winter, while summer is a quieter time for the coffin-building and funeral industries.

“We try and do the best we can to deliver a comforting process for the family,” Mr Kerr said.

“We’re constantly coming up with ideas; how do we make it different, how do we make it more stylish, more contemporary and bring it into the age of what we’re living now, instead of the dark ages.”

Article by Jeff Licence, ABC Open Producer

Billy cart grand prix 2016

For the last 6 years Ashton Manufacturing has sponsored an entry in the Anglican Church Grammar School’s annual billy cart grand prix.

The boys did a great job this year coming second in their heat, as you will see in the video.

The special paint job was completed by our team. Our polishers used orange metallic automotive paint which was overlayed with a skull design, which was a special request from the boys.

Ashton's billy cart

Expression Coffins goes to Supanova [video]

The Supanova pop culture expo is a fan convention which focuses on science fiction, fantasy films, television, comic books, anime, gaming and all things collectable. It is held annually in the Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and our own Gold Coast.

We decided to take our Expression Coffins along to the expo and show a new demographic our amazing superhero-themed designs.

We had a super fun time at the Supanova festival on the Gold Coast. The response to our superhero Expression Coffins was absolutely amazing as you’ll see in the video.

See our Expression Coffins website for more coffin designs: www.expressioncoffins.com.au