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Grief and bereavement: what psychiatrists need to know
Open accessAbstract
THIS REVIEW COVERS FOUR AREAS OF CLINICAL IMPORTANCE TO PRACTICING PSYCHIATRISTS: a) symptoms and course of uncomplicated (normal) grief; b) differential diagnosis, clinical characteristics and treatment of complicated grief; c) differential diagnosis, clinical characteristics and treatment of grief-related major depression; and d) psychiatrists' reactions to patient suicides. Psychiatrists often are ill prepared to identify complicated grief and grief-related major depression, and may not always be trained to identify or provide the most appropriate course of treatment. Both conditions overlap with symptoms found in ordinary, uncomplicated grief, and often are written off as "normal" with the faulty assumption that time, strength of character and the natural support system will heal. While uncomplicated grief may be extremely painful, disruptive and consuming, it is usually tolerable and self-limited and does not require formal treatment. However, both complicated grief and grief-related major depression can be persistent and gravely disabling, can dramatically interfere with function and quality of life, and may even be life threatening in the absence of treatment; and both usually respond to targeted psychiatric interventions. In addition, patient suicide has been reported as one of the most frequent and stressful crises experienced by health providers, and psychiatrists are not immune to complicated grief or grief-related depression when they, themselves, become survivors. Thus, it is essential for psychiatrists to recognize their own vulnerabilities to the personal assaults that often accompany such losses, not only for their own mental health and well-being, but also to provide the most sensitive and enlightened care to their patients.
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“Furthermore, in comparison with existing treatments for MDD and PTSD, PGD appears uniquely responsive to grief-specific treatments (Shear et al., 2005;Zisook and Shear, 2009).”
From The prevalence of prolonged grief disorder in bereaved individuals following unnatural losses: Systematic review and meta regression analysis (2020) · cites this paper as Zisook and Shear, 2009
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“Hallucinations and visions of the deceased person are often experienced in both Western and Eastern populations (Zisook and Shear, 2009; Shimizu et al., 2017)”
From The assessment of grief in refugees and post-conflict survivors: a narrative review of etic and emic research (2018) · cites this paper as Zisook and Shear, 2009
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Metadata
- Authors
- ZISOOK, S., & SHEAR, K.
- Affiliations
- University of California San Diego (US)
- ORCID
- ZISOOK, SIDNEY
- Venue
- World Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2009-06
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 67-74
- ISSN
- 1723-8617 (ISSN-L)
- 2051-5545
- PMC
- PMC2691160
- OpenAlex
- W1495198831
- Semantic Scholar
- 84d101b3e06ad49e4d800b6e58086f4f836be83f
- Cited by
- 451
- References
- 64
- Citations by year
- 2026: 34 · 2025: 48 · 2024: 38 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 40 · 2020: 35 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 32 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 21
- FWCI
- 16.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- World Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Keywords
- complicated grief, normal grief, bereavement, suicide, differential diagnosis, grief therapy
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