People experiencing emotional difficulties react in different ways

See p 1457

Editor—Public emotion after the death of Princess Diana1 has been associated with an increase in consultations with general practitioners for depression,2 3 although it is not clear if this represents a true increase. Most people might show some emotion, but how do people experiencing emotional difficulties react? We have observed in psychiatric practice a range of responses, showing that an emotional response was incorporated into the cognitions of many of our patients, influencing their efforts to cope.

One common response was related to the individual's experience of loss. For example, an HIV positive gay man with a depressive illness in remission had given a friend's funeral eulogy days before the event. He felt he had coped well by “putting [his] grief behind [him]” despite the resonance with his situation. The public grief resulted in tearfulness and thoughts of his death, leading to a better attitude towards his future. He developed no symptoms of …