Grieving the death of a child

doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7542.620

BMJ 2006;332:620-621 (18 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7542.620

Editorial

Grieving the death of a child

Health professionals need to be particularly sensitive to theneeds of parents

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The death of a child brings profound distress and intense griefto the family, challenging all those involved in caring forthe family through such times. That such grief can lead to suicideis known, but two cases in this week's BMJ show a particularhazard after a child has died at home: in both cases motherscommitted suicide with drugs prescribed for the palliative careof their children (p 647).¹

There is substantial evidence from comparative and longitudinalstudies that the grief of parents following the loss of a childis more intense and prolonged than that of other losses.^{2 3}Parental vulner-ability includes a heightened risk of suicide,especially in the first month, as shown in a nested case-controlstudy of Danish longitudinal registers.⁴ Population based follow-upstudies also show that anxiety and depression may last fourto nine years after the loss of a child . . . [Full text of this article]

Beverley Raphael, professor of population mental health and disasters

University of Western Sydney, Parramatta, Penrith South DC, NSW 1797, Australia
(b.raphael@uws.edu.au)

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This article has been cited by other articles:

Byrne, P. (2006). Grieving the death of a child: clinicians should ensure that lethal drugs are handed back.. BMJ 332: 794-794 [Full text]
Vrabtchev, S. V (2006). Grieving the death of a child: supporting health professionals who care for grieving patients may benefit all.. BMJ 332: 794-795 [Full text]