Changes in Grief and Mental Health of Bereaved Spouses of Older Suicides

Comparisons are made of the impact of a suicide death on the surviving spouse (55+ years) with that of a natural death & a married nonbereaved control group over a bereavement period of 2 1/2 years after death. Bereavement was found to be more difficult for the suicide survivors, whose severe depressive feelings did not lessen significantly & whose mental health did not improve until after the first year. By the end of the study, most differences between the two bereaved groups had disappeared.