Widowhood

To explore how different cultures treat their members at different stages in life and how social isolation changes us physically.(All links will open in a new window.)

Read the article on widows in India

Answer the following questions in the box provided:

  1. Which of the listed aspects of widowhood impacted you the most emotionally and why?
  2. In culture you were raised in, how are widows treated?
  3. Knowing that humans need physical and emotional contact to stay psychologically healthy, what brain chemicals and brain areas are changed when a person is isolated from their family and friends? Consider using chapter 3 in our textbook and this article on isolation and the brain for further information.

Sample Solution