Grief: Aetiology, Symptoms and Management (original) (raw)
Related papers
Is prolonged grief distinct from bereavement-related posttraumatic stress
Psychiatry Research, 2010
Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) (previously called complicated grief (CG)) is proposed as a distinct post loss syndrome, with its own core symptoms. A key issue concerning the diagnostic validity of PGD is whether it can reliably be distinguished from related psychiatric outcomes following bereavement. This study therefore sought to determine whether the core symptoms of PGD could be distinguished from those of bereavement-related anxiety, depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Data were derived from a community sample of 223 bereaved adults in Croatia. PGD symptomatology was measured using the Revised Inventory of Complicated Grief. Depression and anxiety symptoms were measured using the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories, respectively. The intrusion and avoidance symptoms of PTSD were assessed using the Revised Impact of Event Scale. The distinctiveness of the five symptom clusters was examined using principal component analysis (PCA). Symptoms of prolonged grief, depression, anxiety, PTSD-intrusion, and PTSD-avoidance clustered together into five distinct factors. These results support the phenomenological distinctiveness of prolonged grief symptoms, from those of bereavement-related anxiety, depression and, for the first time, PTSD.
Analysis of Mourning and Complicated Grief With Suggested Applications for Clinicians
Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health, 2015
Mourning is a normal, universal response to death with countless cultural elaborations worldwide. When individuals are unable to progress through normal mourning, Complicated Grief (CG) can be a result. Ways in which humans deal with the universal consequences of death are examined and compared to the typical modern setting found in first world nations. It is suggested that normal mourning is facilitated by various ritual acts and if these activities lack certain features (suggested by cross-cultural analysis of mourning rituals), an increased risk of CG may result. Examination of rituals furthermore suggests ways clinicians may help patients cope with loss.
Grief and mourning gone awry: pathway and course of complicated grief
Dialogues in clinical neuroscience, 2012
Complicated grief is a recently recognized condition that occurs in about 7% of bereaved people. People with this condition are caught up in rumination about the circumstances of the death, worry about its consequences, or excessive avoidance of reminders of the loss. Unable to comprehend the finality and consequences of the loss, they resort to excessive avoidance of reminders of the loss as they are tossed helplessly on waves of intense emotion. People with complicated grief need help, and clinicians need to know how to recognize the symptoms and how to provide help. This paper provides a framework to help clinicans understand bereavement, grief, and mourning. Evidence-based diagnostic criteria are provided to help clinicians recognize complicated grief, and differentiate it from depression as well as anxiety disorder. We provide an overview of risk factors and basic assumptions and principles that can guide treatment.
Frontiers in Psychiatry
BackgroundRecognition that the loss of a loved one may result in prolonged grief disorder (PGD) has gained broad attention recently. PGD may disturb daily functioning to such a degree that mental health treatment is required. Because PGD symptoms often resemble symptoms of common mental disorders (CMD) such as anxiety, depressive, and post-traumatic stress disorder, clinicians may not consider a PGD diagnosis. Moreover, cultural varieties in expression of PGD may complicate recognition. This study explores the prevalence of PGD among both natives and refugees with anxiety, depressive, or trauma- and/or stressor-related disorders as well as clinicians' awareness and knowledge of PGD symptoms. In addition, a psychoeducation module on PGD symptoms is developed through patient expert collaboration.MethodsPrevalence of PGD symptoms is investigated among 50 participants who are referred to outpatient clinics for anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress, using the Traumatic Grief ...
Grief: A cognitive-behavioral analysis
Cognitive Therapy and Research, 1977
Traditional views of grief are briefly examined, and a cognitive-behavioral analysis is offered. Particular attention is given to the role of social reinforcement and the possible consequences of the common "'conspiracy of silence'" which often follows the loss of a loved one. In this latter pattern, family and friends may withhold information about the death, avoid discussing the dead person, and remove all signs of the deceased from a patient's environment. The prolonged grief reactions which sometimes follow this type of reaction are likened to the Napalkov phenomenon and Eysenck's hypothesis about incubation of distress. To explore the implications of this analysis, four cases of pathological grief were treated with prolonged exposure to the stimuli producing grief and a rescheduling of social reinforcement. Remarkable success was observed in all cases despite their chronic nature, and suggestions are made for more controlled evaluation of this treatment strategy. Grief refers to a complex of behavioral, affective, cognitive, and somatic disturbances displayed by an individual following the death of a loved one, or indeed following the loss of any important relationship. In this respect grief may be considered to be a particular case of the more general malady of depression. Averill (1968) has described the typical features of this painful and almost universal experience. They include: (a) emotional responses such as feelings of distress, despair, anxiety, guilt, and even hostility; (b) disturbed motor behavior, for example, apathy, social withdrawal, fatigue, or more rarely, compulsive overactivity; (c) inappropriate cognitions such as preoccupation with thoughts of the deceased, an inability to concentrate on routine tasks, and lack of initiative; and (d) a wide variety of somatic 39
Grief and the new DSM-5 clinical category: A narrative review of the literature
Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2019
Aim: Grief is a common reaction to loss and it is considered a physiological and instinctive response. The "normal" grief evolves into an "integrated" phase within one year from death, and it is a non-pathological condition, that does not require specific therapeutic interventions. When this “integrated phase” does not occur, the subject could reach pathological manifestations related to the grief. The Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder (PCBD) was proposed as a new category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition. PCBD is a new clinical category characterized by symptoms related to the detachment and to the post-traumatic distress and it differs from normal and uncomplicated grief, for the disability caused by these reactions and their persistence and pervasiveness. Method: We examined reviews and studies of different researches done in the last twenty years, concerning the issues of loss, "normal" and "compli...
Typical findings in pathological grief
The Psychiatric Quarterly, 1970
The relationship between neurotic s)~nptoms and bereavement was suggested by Freud 1 in the early part of the psychoanalytic movement. Yet, as Bowlby ~ has brought out, it has taken 50 years for psychoanalysts to undertake a systematic study of this relationship. Bowlby has carried on su.eh studies himself and has referred to four psychoanalysts whom he considers to be most outstanding in their attention to the psychology of mourning: Freud, Melanie Klein, Lindemann, and J.acobson. Other significant studies are smnmarized by Siggin?