AMID reports that some families have to wait two or more months for an autopsy to be conducted before laying their loved ones to rest, psychotherapist Latoya Deslandes says the lengthy process can significantly affect their ability to grieve could plunge them into depression.

Deslandes shared that while grief is something that everyone experiences at some point in time, delays in the process can cause individuals to be in limbo and unable to complete the grieving process.

The grieving process is defined as the state of emotions that an individual goes through after experiencing a loss. It has five stages — denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

“The grieving process kind of ends at the place of acceptance, but on the journey to that, there is the need for closure, and that closure in Jamaica is usually when we have the big event — which is the funeral and everything that surrounds that, such as the gathering together of the family.

“With everything being delayed, that then causes people to feel like, ‘I can’t even move past this,’ or think, ‘My life is on hold.’ That causes anxiety, depression, and even people feeling helpless because, basically, you can’t do anything.

“This is your loved one, and you have no control over what happens to their body, right? Now you just have to wait until you’re told that you can go ahead. There is just an increasing emotional stress that people feel because of that,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

The lengthy wait time for autopsies across the island is due to a lack of pathologists on the island. According to the Institute of Forensic Science and Legal Medicine, there are currently six pathologists in Jamaica, with two more expected to arrive from overseas in short order.

Additionally, the lengthy wait time can also be attributed to the crime rate, as matters of interest to the police are processed through the Government forensic institute, and these include accidents, murders, or sudden deaths amid suspicion that there was some level of foul play.

Based on police statistics, 1,139 murders were recorded for all of 2024. As it relates to deaths from motor vehicle crashes, 364 were recorded last year. As of February 1, there were 73 murders reported and up to February 7 of this year, 37 motor vehicle fatalities were reported.

The emotional turmoil caused by the delays was felt by one mother who shared with this newspaper last month that she had been waiting two months for an autopsy for her son.

Marcia Mardner, the mother of David Mardner, shared that her son was shot dead by gunmen in November last year on 75 Lane, off Waltham Park Road in St Andrew. It took more than two months for her son’s autopsy to be completed.

“I am angry because I feel it is time now for me to get closure and bury him. They say I have to wait in line. I went down to [House of] Tranquillity Funeral Home, and they said to me that a private autopsy is not available for him because that is only for people who get sick and die. When it is a gunshot case, it has to be done by the Government,” the slain man’s mother told the Observer in January.

The deceased sister, who gave her name as Theresa, shared that she was also heartbroken about the delay and frustrated with how long the process takes to get an autopsy.

“David was my baby brother — I am nine years older than him. I am just putting out the best, but inside I am dying. I would really want his body so we can bury him,” she said.

“I saw him in my dreams last week. In the dream, mommy and I went to the autopsy session and when we walked into the room, he was sitting down and said he has been waiting on us to come for a long time. Every day we call the police lady about it, and she says she has no control over it,” she told the Observer last month.

Mardner’s autopsy was said to have been rescheduled three times.

The psychotherapist told the Sunday Observer the delay, plus the rescheduling of the autopsy, can also increase the feeling of helplessness family members experience.

“It leaves people feeling like [they] just have to wait on other people to come up with their timing so that they can do what they need to do, and so they feel like they can’t move forward. It can feel so distressing when you’re not able to honour this person in the way that you want to honour their memory, and you have to just wait,” said Deslandes.

“Imagine feeling like the person’s spirit is unsettled and other things like that we might believe as Jamaicans, and how we might feel about this close loved one, who we would love to honour, [we] have no control over what is being done with their body right now,” she added.

In some cases, it can also cause individuals to be stuck in the denial phase.

“If something happened outside of the hospital, maybe something tragically happened and [a person] tragically dies, in a lot of cases you can’t even get to view the body of your loved one. The impact that can have is like you hear that this person is dead, but you have no proof. You have proof in that you kind of believe what they say, but you are not seeing this person, you’re not seeing the dead body, and so you can’t get that closure to be able to move on,” she explained.

To further compound the issue, Deslandes shared that delays are often associated with added financial strain for the families.

“I’m aware of one family right now that their loved one passed away last year, maybe early December, and they would have expected by the end of December that they would have had the funeral. The funeral is going to be this month. They have had to pay more money to keep the body in the morgue, so the financial impact as well as the emotional [impact] adds to the stress of the whole situation,” she said.

The delays, she added, can also lead to family members feeling alone and less supported as the process drags on.

“When there is somebody that dies, there is usually the process of family coming together, people coming from far and wide just to provide support, so that is delayed as well. It can happen to some extent, but for families coming from overseas and spending that money to come, it might not happen,” she explained, adding that the delay can also cause those not close to the family to forget that the individual died, and so they are less likely to show support.

In these difficult times, she stressed the importance of extending love and kindness to the heartbroken family members in any way possible.

“You can go ahead and do a memorial with candle lighting and different things like that, just to honour their life. If you’re in a community, like a church community, it’s so important to engage that kind of support,” she said.

Relatives of the deceased are also urged to seek professional help, if needed.

“Engage with persons around you to support you. It’s really good to do that just the same. Talk to a counsellor, talk to a pastor, and join support groups. There are often support groups that are done for grieving or different challenges that you are having, so that you are not going through it by yourself,” she encouraged.