Not as Bad as H1N1, But Still Contagious
– Grieving , Extreme Edition
This article from the New York Times speaks about grief and depression after a loved one has passed. Normally, “time heals all wounds”, but for 15% of the population affected by someone close to them dying, they suffer from what Dr. Katherine Shear calls “The Loop of Suffering”. There is debate whether or not this should be put into the DSV-V (due out in 2012) because some think it should be treated as multiple disorders (PTSD, Depression, etc.), and others think its a whole other game. Complicated grief is something that creates a huge debilitating void in a person that does not allow them to function in society because they are preoccupied with yearning over the loss.
Dr. Shear has worked with people in this condition. The article talks about one woman who could not go on after her son’s death, and Dr. Shear used a combination of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (normally used for PTSD patients) to recall the death in detail and speak verbally about it, and eventually the patient got her life back on track.
To equate this to our class, I would say that the “Loop of Suffering” is something we want (why is it we always want the disgusting and horrific parts of this metaphor we use?) because we want people to keep it in their minds, the images, the thoughts of the meme. Now, this can be a bad thing for them. I know many times I have “suffered” with the Rick Roll song in my head (but that goes back to “is my meme worth putting out there?). Interesting article, and I think the DSM-V needs to see some expansion on this disorder as I know people who suffered from grieving way longer than 6 months, but probably not as severe as Dr Shear’s patients either.
Tagged as death, grief, medical + Categorized as Response