Depression, complicated grief, and suicide ideation following bereavement during the COVID-19 pandemic

Many people lost a relative during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such a loss may have deleterious implications due to the circumstances of bereavement during lockdowns and social distancing. This study aimed to explore depressive symptoms, complicated grief, and suicidal ideation in the grieving process among 104 bereaved jewish adults who had lost relatives during the COVID-19 […]

Heartbeat recordings in music therapy bereavement care following suicide: Action research single case study of amplified cardiopulmonary recordings for continuity of care

Bereavement services incorporating family-centered practices are emerging within hospital-based care but are often time-limited and lack personalization. This action research single case study explored one father’s experience of music therapy using amplified cardiopulmonary recordings (ACPR) during bereavement following his son’s death by suicide, to critique current norms and inspire transformative change in systems of care. […]

How to facilitate a grief group

This guide is written for those who, while not certified grief therapists or regulated professionals, feel called to work with grieving and/or bereaved people. Whether planning to facilitate a group as a volunteer, as a student or  professional-in-training, or because of your own personal life experience with loss and grief, you know how important it […]

Models of adult bereavement support groups

Before taking on some of the nuts and bolts of adult bereavement support groups, it is probably a good idea to consider what support groups are and why they can be a useful option for supporting the bereaved as they grieve. This will enable the laying  down of some groundwork, what might work best for […]

Models of adult bereavement support groups

Upon completion, students will be able to: 1.Identify at least two benefits of offering groups. 2. Demonstrate knowledge of at least two topics and activities appropriate for a group. 3. Articulate knowledge of ways in which to successfully manage group challenges. Before taking on some of the nuts and bolts of adult bereavement support groups, […]

Coping strategies and considering the possibility of death in those bereaved by sudden, and violent deaths: Grief severity, depression, and posttraumatic growth

Background: Bereavement by sudden and violent deaths can lead to increased grief severity, depression, and reduced posttraumatic growth compared to those bereaved by natural causes. These outcomes can be affected by coping strategies and whether a survivor had been “prepared” for the death. The present study examined the effect of coping and considering the possibility of […]

A comparison of spousal anticipatory grief and conventional grief

The purpose of the present investigation was to compare the degree of similarity between the grief experienced by spouses of terminally-ill patients prior to (anticipatory grief) and following the death (conventional grief). Responses of this sample were also compared with those of two control groups: spouses of chronically-ill patients and spouses of relatively healthy individuals […]

Narratives and story telling in coping with grief and bereavement

My daughter was a normal, healthy young lady, looking forward to becoming a teenager. Then, a strange sensation appeared in the muscle of her upper arm and everything changed! She waged the toughest battle of her life, but died of cancer in the middle of her thirteenth year. How does a mother cope with so […]

Loneliness in bereavement: Measurement matters

The role of loneliness in the bereavement experience has been reported as substantial, with the death of a close person leaving a considerable void in the life of the bereaved. Yet, there is lack of agreement about its precise role and, notably, whether loneliness should be included as a core symptom for diagnosis of grief […]

Counselling the bereaved: Caregiver Handbook. (Rev. ed.)

This booklet contains a summary of the major points made during the Counselling the Bereaved Workshop. It will allow you to review many of the concepts learned during the workshop, while also providing additional related information and a list of recommended readings and resources. while the booklet provides background information on counselling the bereaved, it […]

Community-based support for people at risk for suicide and those who care for them: Areas for improvement

To systematically review the quality of evidence regarding the effectiveness of supports for people affected by suicide. EMBASE, MEDLINE, and PsychINFO were searched for evaluations of community-based supports for people affected by suicide. Outcomes included suicide-related behavior, depression, grief, quality of life, caring ability, and qualitative experiences. Fifteen studies evaluated 15 supports of various modalities. […]

Grief after euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide: A systematic review

Background: Several countries have regulated euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS). Research has looked at the experiences of patients, family, and professionals. However, little is known of the effects on bereaved individuals. Aims: We aimed to assess (a) what is known about the grief and mental health of people bereaved by euthanasia or PAS and (b) the quality of […]

Help-seeking prior to male suicide: Bereaved men’s perspectives.

Male suicide is a significant issue globally, and implicated are men’s challenges around help-seeking and engagement with peer or professional mental health care. While men’s reticence for help-seeking predominates as an explanatory gendered dimension for male suicide, there are significant caveats and complexities to fully understanding those practices in the context of men’s mental illness […]

The effect of sudden death bereavement on the risk for suicide: The role of suicide bereavement

Background: Bereavement after a sudden death is associated with psychiatric sequelae including suicidal ideation and behavior. However, there is still uncertainty about whether bereavement due to suicide increases the risk for suicidal behavior more than bereavement due to other causes of death does. Aims: This study aimed to evaluate suicidal risk among sudden death-bereaved participants and to identify […]

The association of loneliness after sudden bereavement with risk of suicide attempt: A nationwide survey of bereaved adults

Purpose We aimed to test the hypothesis that among people who experience sudden bereavement, loneliness is associated with post-bereavement suicide attempt and post-bereavement suicidal ideation, even when adjusting for network size. Methods We analysed cross-sectional data collected in the 2010 UCL Bereavement Study, to identify 3193 respondents who had experienced sudden bereavement. We used multivariable […]

Suicide and sudden death bereavement in Australia: a longitudinal study of family members over 2 years after death

Objective: Grief reactions change over time. However, only a limited number of studies, and none in Australia, have analysed changes in individual grief reactions longitudinally. The aim is to examine changes in grief reactions, mental health and suicidality of close family members bereaved by suicide, 6, 12 and 24 months after their loss compared with those […]

Cause of caregiver death and surviving caregiver coping style predict thwarted belongingness in bereaved youth

Both bereavement and thwarted belongingness serve as risk markers for youth suicide-related behaviors. This study examined candidate predictors of thwarted belongingness among bereaved youth, including caregiver cause of death and surviving caregiver coping style. A group of 43 caregiver-bereaved families (58 children aged 7–13-years-old) participated in a longitudinal study investigating associations between hypothesized bereavement-related contextual […]

Prolonged grief symptomatology following violent loss: The mediating role of meaning

Background: Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) is over-represented among those who have lost loved ones to violent causes. To tailor PGD interventions for this vulnerable population it is critical to examine the aetiology of PGD specifically in the context of violent death bereavement. Previous studies have suggested that violent loss increases symptoms of PGD by hindering the […]

Suicide in relation to the experience of stressful life events: A population-based study.

Stressful life events have been associated with high risk of suicidal behavior. The aim of this study was to examine whether persons who died by suicide in Denmark had more frequently been exposed to stressful life events, specifically divorce, death of a close relative, exposure to violence, and imprisonment, when compared to gender and age-matched […]

Medical comorbidity in complicated grief: Results from the HEAL collaborative trial.

Objective To describe medical comorbidity in persons with Complicated Grief (CG) and to test whether medical comorbidity in individuals with CG is associated with the severity and duration of CG, after adjusting for age, sex, race, and current depressive symptoms. Methods In exploratory analyses, we compared data from participants in an NIMH-sponsored multisite clinical trial […]

Handbook of traumatic loss: A guide to theory and practice.

The Handbook of Traumatic Loss adopts a broad, holistic approach that recognizes traumatic loss much more fully as a multidimensional human phenomenon, not simply a medical condition. Initial chapters build a foundation for understanding traumatic loss and explore the many ways we respond to trauma. Later chapters counterbalance the individualistic focus of dominant approaches to traumatic loss by […]

Setting up and facilitating bereavement support groups: A practical guide.

Those who have been bereaved are in need of support, and groupwork is an effective way in which people can come together and support each other in a trusted environment. This book provides a practical introduction to setting up and facilitating bereavement support groups, giving facilitators the confidence to run a group. It guides the […]

The associations between religion, bereavement and depression among Hong Kong nurses.

This paper is to examine the associations between religion, bereavement and depression among nursing professionals using a cross-sectional survey design. There is little empirical evidence in Asia suggesting that religion may either increase or lower the likelihood of nursing professionals being depressed.