BMJ  2007;334:962-963 (12 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39206.507488.BE

Editorials

Complicated grief after bereavement

Psychological interventions may be effective

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

Some bereaved people develop severe long term reactions to their loss. This kind of reaction may be associated with adverse health outcomes and has recently been termed "complicated grief."1 The syndrome is more common after unexpected and violent deaths such as suicide.2 3 People bereaved by suicide are also more likely than those bereaved by other deaths to experience stigmatisation, shame, guilt, and a sense of rejection.4

People going through normal or uncomplicated grief reactions after a death usually do not need or benefit from specific interventions other than support—indeed these may be contraindicated.5 The potentially severe implications for people who develop complicated grief suggest, however, that special treatment may be indicated. But are these interventions effective?

The randomised controlled trial reported by de Groot and colleagues in this week's BMJ is one of few evaluations in this field.6 The findings indicate that provision of a cognitive behaviour counselling programme of . . . [Full text of this article]

Keith Hawton, professor of psychiatry

University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX

keith.hawton@psych.ox.ac.uk


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Relevant Article

Cognitive behaviour therapy to prevent complicated grief among relatives and spouses bereaved by suicide: cluster randomised controlled trial
Marieke de Groot, Jos de Keijser, Jan Neeleman, Ad Kerkhof, Willem Nolen, and Huibert Burger
BMJ 2007 334: 994. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

  • McDaid, C., Trowman, R., Golder, S., Hawton, K., Sowden, A. (2008). Interventions for people bereaved through suicide: systematic review. Br. J. Psychiatry 193: 438-443 [Abstract] [Full text]  
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