Complicated grief Flashcards
Intensification of grief to the level where the person is overwhelmed, reports maladaptive behavior and/or remains in the state of grief without resolution
-Also known as abnormal grief
-Said to affect 10-20% of bereaved individuals
-2 main components: duration and intensity
Complicated grief
What are the four categories of complicated grief?
- Chronic grief
- Delayed grief
- Exaggerated grief
- Masked grief
Excessive in duration, never seem to come to any conclusion or healing
-Person may feel stuck and knows it but are unwilling to change position
-Person is at lease open to getting help
-Participated in grief rituals
Chronic grief
Inhibited, suppressed, or postponed grief reactions
-Person may have had somewhat emotional reaction at the time of loss but it was not sufficient enough at the time of loss
-Later in life the person will overreact to a less significant loss
Delayed grief
Extreme intensification of normal grief that often results in maladaptive behaviors
-Worsens overtime
-Can lead to a variety of mental health disorders, phobias, or drug and alcohol dependencies
Exaggerated grief
People experience symptoms and behaviors which cause them difficulty but they do not link it to a loss
-Often occurs when people do not allow themselves to grieve properly
-Individual suffers from non-affective symptoms
-Least likely to seek help
Masked grief
When can complicated grief be diagnosed, what guides this diagnosis, and what does the guide call it?
The DSM-V labels it as persistant complex bereavement disorder
-The hallmark is the symptoms must be seen for 6 consecutive months, but the official diagnosis officially comes one year after death
How is complicated grief treated?
-Talk based therapy
-Variety of modality
How is complicated grief handled?
Typically either self diagnosed or under treatment for a psychological disorder that is found rooted in complicated grief
What are the 12 grief reactions and who coined them?
Lazare
1. Cannot speak of deceased without intense grief
2. Minor events trigger an intense grief reaction
3. Themes of loss come up in clinical interview
4. Unwilling to move material possessions belonging to deceased
5. Development of physical symptoms similar to those of the deceased before death
6. Radial lifestyle changes
7. Long history of subclinical depression with guilt and low self esteem
8. Imitating the deceased
9. Self-destructive impulses
10. Unaccounted sadness at certain times of year
11. Phobia about illness or death related to deceased
12. Circumstances surrounding the death
What are the factors affecting complicated grief and what are they similar to?
Similar to the mediators of mourning
1. Relation
2. Circumstantial
3. Historical
4. Personality
5. Social
Factor relating to complicated grief:
-How two individuals connect and interact
-High ambivalent relationships
-Narcissistic relationships
Relation facor
Person is described as being very preoccupied with their own power prestige
Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD)
What are the symptoms of NPD and how may does someone have to display to be diagnosed
A person has to display at least 5 of the nine symptoms to be diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder:
1. Grand sense of self importance (grandiosity): someone who over exaggerates what they do/ accomplish
2. Preoccupation with beauty, brilliance, and success
3. A need for excessive admiration
4. Sense of entitlement
5. An individual is only able to render their status (only associate with) at their level or higher. The only time they associate lower is when it is to help someone (for show)
6. Has an extreme lack of empathy
7. Believing people hold extreme envy towards them
8. Extreme arrogance
9. Exploit others
Other factors: very smart, deficient in self image, commonly enter relationships with dependent personality types
Factor relating to complicated grief:
-The loss is surrounded by a lot of uncertainty (may not know if the person is dead or alive
-Experiencing multiple losses leads to bereavement overload
-Common disorder pertaining to this factor is PTSD
Circumstantial factor
