Late Adulthood Bereavement

Paper Summary:

This paper begins with a definition of bereavement and grief. Loss of a spouse is rated as the most stressful life event across all ages and cultural backgrounds. The paper continues to explore the myriad of literature on the topic of dealing with grief in late adulthood. In conclusion, it explores the diagnosis, symptoms and treatment of grief.

From the Paper:

"At least 10 -20 percent of widows and widowers develop clinically significant depression during the first year of bereavement, and without treatment, such depressions tend to persist, become chronic and lead to further disability and impairments (Older pp). Bereavement-associated depression often coexists with another type of emotional distress, which has been termed traumatic grief, the symptoms of which, although not formalized as a mental disorder in DSM-IV, appear to be a mixture of symptoms of both pathological grief and post-traumatic stress disorder (Older pp). Such symptoms are extremely disabling, associated with functional and health impairment and with persistent suicidal thoughts, and may well respond to pharmacotherapy (Older pp)."

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