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Bereavement: Course, Consequences, and Care

  • Geriatric Disorders (W McDonald, Section Editor)
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Abstract

This paper discusses each of several potential consequences of bereavement. First, we describe ordinary grief, followed by a discussion of grief gone awry, or complicated grief (CG). Then, we cover other potential adverse outcomes of bereavement, each of which may contribute to, but are not identical with, CG: general medical comorbidity, mood disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and substance use.

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Conflict of Interest

Julie Avanzino, Jeanne Maglione, Danielle Glorioso, Samuel Zetumer, Kathryn Seay, Ilanit Young, Barry Lebowitz, declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Sidney Zisook has received the following grants: NIMH-5R01MH085297, AFSP- LSRG-S-172-12, and a grant from The Majda Foundation.

Alana Iglewicz received an unrestricted travel grant from John A. Hartford Foundation.

Ipsit Vahia has received an unrestricted travel grant from John A. Hartford Foundation.

Ronald Pies is an unpaid board member of Psychiatric Times Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience. Dr. Pies also has received royalties from American Psychiatric Press, Nova Publications, Hamilton Books, and iUniverse.

Charles Reynolds reports receiving pharmaceutical support for NIH-sponsored research studies from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Forest, Pfizer, and Lilly; receiving grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Aging, National Center for Minority Health Disparities, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the John A Hartford Foundation, National Palliative Care Research Center (NPCRC), Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention; and serving on the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry editorial review board. He has received an honorarium as a speaker from MedScape/WEB MD. He is the co-inventor (Licensed Intellectual Property) of Psychometric analysis of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) PRO10050447 (PI: Buysse). Supported by the National Institutes of Health through Grant Numbers P60 MD000207; P30 MH090333; UL1RR024153, UL1TR000005; and the UPMC Endowment in Geriatric Psychiatry

Naomi Simon has received grants from the Highland Street Foundation, NIMH, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and DOD. She has received honoraria/consultation fees from the MGH Psychiatry Academy.

M. Katherine Shear has received the following grants: NIMH (MH60783 and MH70741) and AFSP.

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Correspondence to Sidney Zisook.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Geriatric Disorders

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Zisook, S., Iglewicz, A., Avanzino, J. et al. Bereavement: Course, Consequences, and Care. Curr Psychiatry Rep 16, 482 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-014-0482-8

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