THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN GRIEF AND BEREAVEMENT RELATED DEPRESSION

In the movie ‘P.S.: I Love You’, when Holly (Hillary Swank) loses her husband Gerry (Gerard Butler), she turns into a recluse. She locks herself indoors and is unable to continue working. When her family finds her in her apartment a week later, they discover that she’s ceased to function normally – she hasn’t even showered in that long. She keeps trying Gerry’s cell phone; only to get his voicemail; and she cries herself to sleep every night by listening to his voice over and over again. Loss of someone really close to you could lead to bereavement.

Grief, bereavement and depression are inter-related. Learning to cope with the first two could lead to avoidance of the third. Read on to learn more about how the lines get blurred sometimes.

UNDERSTANDING GRIEF –

Grief, as a term, is used to describe the feelings that one goes through after a period of bereavement.

WHAT IS BEREAVEMENT? –

Bereavement, as a term, is generally used to describe an event that would include a feeling of loss. This could refer to loss of a job or a death of a person. In this write-up, however, we’re going to focus on coping with the loss of a near/dear one.

It is important to understand one thing; there is no correct or wrong way of dealing with the death of a person. Different persons will react to a death differently, depending on their relationship with the deceased person.

According to recently conducted studies, people with a recent case of bereavement were likely to show changes in their modes of functioning and these disruptions could be put into 4 categories – cognitive disorganization, health deficits, dysphoria (sadness or the opposite of euphoria) and disruptions that affect the social and occupational functioning of the individual.

These signs are common during the first year of bereavement and have been seen to hit a decline post the one year mark.

THE FACTORS –

According to experts, a number of factors would come into play and determine the extent of grief and/or depression that a person feels –

• Relationship to the deceased
• The closeness of that relationship
• Social support
• Family history of a mood disorder
• Personal history of depression
• Age
• Sex
• Race
• Financial status
• Religious involvement

PHASES OF GRIEF –

It has been seen that grief could pass through while undergoing changes due to bereavement –

• A stage of Numbness
  During this stage, the essential things of a person get done; but he/she will hardly have any memory of doing so. Symptoms of anxiety and depression may begin to surface. This is likely to last around a few days at a maximum.
• A stage of Depression
  This stage is likely to last almost a few weeks and in some rare cases would continue for up to a year. The feelings of irritability and restlessness are apparent by this time. The common symptoms of depression are likely to follow.
• A stage of Recovery
  When this happens, the bereaved is finally beginning to accept the death of their loved one. This will happen around 4 months to a year post the death. There will some level of return to normalcy and the usual ways of functioning.

GRIEF AND DEPRESSION – THE DISTINCTION –

Grief and depression are very often confused with each other. The reason behind this is that both of them are extremely similar in their symptoms. But the truth of the matter is that it is possible for a person to grieve without being depressed; but vice versa isn’t possible.

According to reports, around 33% of people who are bereaved are likely to head for a depressive illness around a month after their loss has occurred. The symptoms that would indicate depression in a bereaved person are as follows –

• Intense feelings of guilt, which are more often than not related to the bereavement
• A constant preoccupation with the concept of dying, which could in turn lead to suicidal thoughts or actions
• Feelings of absolute worthlessness
• Inability to function normally when it comes to the social setting (inability to show up at work, or to enjoy a leisure activity or socialize with people)
• Slow movements and slurry speech
• Lying in bed all day, refusing to do anything
• Hallucinations about the deceased

Watch this space for more. In following write-ups we’ll talk about how to cope with bereavement related depression.

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