Mood and affective disorders Flashcards
What is the difference between bereavement and grief?
Grief is the normal process of reacting to loss, which can be experienced as a mental, physical, social or emotional reaction
Bereavement is the period after loss during which grief is experienced
What are the stages of a normal grief process?
- Denial
- Anger
- Bargaining
- Depression
- Acceptance
What are the criteria for diagnosing prolonged grief reaction?
Event - bereavement
Separation distress - person experiences yearning daily or to a disabling degree
Cognitive, emotional and behavioural symptoms - 5 or more of the following to a disabling degree:
- Confusion about one’s role in life
- Difficulty accepting the loss
- Avoidance of reminders
- Inability to trust others
- Bitterness or anger
- Difficulty moving on with life
- Numbness
- Feeling that life is unfulfilling, empty or meaningless
- Feeling stunned, dazed or shocked
Timing - at least 6 months since the loss
Impairment - clinically significant impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning
Relation to other mental disorders - not better accounted for by major depressive disorder, generalised anxiety disorder or PTSD
How do you differentiate between grief and depression?
Grief:
- Intense sadness
- Anger
- Irritability
- Difficulty accepting that the event occurred
- Excessive focus on the episode of grief or avoidance of it
- Thoughts of joining the deceased
- Sensation of hearing or seeing things
Depression:
- Feelings of guilt not related to grief
- Morbid preoccupation with worthlessness
- Sluggishness
- Prolonged difficulty in carrying out daily activities
- Thoughts of suicide
- Hallucinations and delusions
How do you manage normal grief?
No medical indication to treat grief If symptoms enough to interfere with daily life consider managing Anxiety -> anxiolytics Sleep -> sleep aids Depression -> antidepressants
Psychotherapy to process what they’re feeling and learn strategies to cope
