Author Topic: Grieving to be labelled mental illness  (Read 770 times)

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Offline skyblue1

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Grieving to be labelled mental illness
« on: January 25, 2012, 06:19:21 PM »
LABEL IT: Psychiatrists have developed a new diagnosis for people struggling to cope after the death of a loved one; adjustment disorder related to bereavement.
Relevant offersPeople suffering from long-term grief after the death of a loved one will soon have their condition officially labelled a mental disorder.

Many psychiatrists have argued grief should not be labelled as a mental condition because it is a natural phenomenon which everyone experiences.

However, the next edition of the industry's so-called bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, will include a new diagnosis for people still struggling to cope a year or more after a loved one dies.

The condition will be officially known as adjustment disorder related to bereavement.

University of New South Wales psychology professor Richard Bryant, who is on the manual's review committee, said 10 to 15 per cent of people have a persistent grief reaction which can last up to 40 years.

Those most likely to mourn for more than a year include people who lose a child or suffer a loss through suicide and unexpected death such as a road accident or homicide.

"People have said it's not right to medicinise grief which has personal and culturally specific responses and psychiatry is butting in where it doesn't belong," Prof Bryant told AAP.

"The alternative view is that all of the above is true but we know after a traumatic event a proportion of people will have negative psychological reactions that will affect them.

"Having a diagnosis means we can identify people through formal screening programs and facilitate people to getting directed to appropriate treatments like cognitive behaviour therapy."

Prof Bryant, who is also the director of the traumatic stress clinic at Sydney's Westmead Hospital, said people with long-term grief tended to be "stuck in the past" and unable to move on with their lives.

"For most people after six months the pain starts to ease and for those who it doesn't they will have a long-term problem," he said.

"They are going to be more likely to abuse substances, have mental health problems, heart conditions and engage in poor health behaviour like smoking and drinking."

Often people who are struggling to cope with grief are prescribed anti-depressants and offered counselling.

But Prof Bryant said these were unlikely to be solutions for people with long-term grief.

"The reaction is about yearning and missing and longing and is distinct from anxiety and depression and is not responsive to treatment for depression," he said.

"So, medication is not going to help it.

"It is psychotherapy programs which are different from the normal grief work programs and counsellors that are best."

Prof Bryant is due to discuss the new diagnosis for long-term grief at a forum hosted by the University of Melbourne's Australian Centre for Post-traumatic Mental Health on August 12.

The next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is due to be published by the American Psychiatric Association in 2013.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/537080...al-illness



Redefining process of mourning - Proposal would label grief a mental disorder


Human grief could soon be diagnosed as a mental disorder under a proposal critics fear could lead to mood-altering pills being pushed for “mourning.”


Psychiatrists charged with revising the official “bible” of mental illness are recommending changes that would make it easier for doctors to diagnose major depression in the newly bereaved.

Instead of having to wait months, the diagnosis could be made two weeks after the loss of a loved one.

The current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – an influential tome used the world over – excludes people who have recently suffered a loss from being diagnosed with a major depressive disorder unless his or her symptoms persist beyond two months. It’s known as the “grief exclusion,” the theory being that “normal” grief shouldn’t be labelled a mental disorder.

But in what critics have called a potentially disastrous suggestion tucked among the proposed changes to the manual, “grief exclusion” would be eliminated from the DSM.

Proponents argue that major depression is major depression, that it makes little difference whether it comes on after the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, the loss of a marriage or any other major life stressor. Eliminating “grief exclusion” would help people get treatment sooner than they otherwise would.

But critics fear that those experiencing completely expectable symptoms of grief would be labelled mentally “sick.” Dr. Allen Frances says the proposal would pathologize a normal human emotion and could bring on even wider prescribing of moodaltering pills.

“This is a disaster,” says Frances, a renowned U.S. psychiatrist who chaired the task force that wrote the current edition of the DSM, which is now undergoing its fifth revision. “Say you lose someone you love and two weeks later you feel sad, can’t sleep well, and have reduced interest, appetite, and energy. These five symptoms are completely typical of normal grieving, but DSM-5 would instead label you with a mental disorder.”

http://www.cchrint.org/2011/04/18/psychi...-disorder/

Offline Queen Victoria

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Re: Grieving to be labelled mental illness
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2012, 07:19:31 PM »
My word, what would they have thought of me?  I was in mourning for Prince Albert for slightly over 40 years.  Preposterous that mourning should be a mental illness.  I think those mind(less) doctors are a mental illness.  Humph!
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Offline Callaway

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Re: Grieving to be labelled mental illness
« Reply #2 on: January 25, 2012, 07:22:40 PM »
I agree with you, QV.  I think that grieving after a loved one dies is perfectly normal.

Offline Queen Victoria

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Re: Grieving to be labelled mental illness
« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2012, 07:29:29 PM »
And not grieving after the death of a loved one is natural also.  Just depends on the circumstances.
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Offline Squidusa

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Re: Grieving to be labelled mental illness
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2012, 07:42:12 PM »
I don't think it's right to "medicinise" grief.

BUT , but doing this looks like there is going to be more support / awareness for those who are struggling to come to terms with losing a loved one and give them the support / therapy they need.

I can't really see that as a bad thing
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Offline El

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Re: Grieving to be labelled mental illness
« Reply #5 on: January 25, 2012, 08:00:51 PM »
It'll make it easier to bill for someone whose primary issue is grief.  Right now you have use use an adjustment or depressive disorder, though you can still code bereavement (it's not billable, and I think it might be more of an Axis IV thing right now).  In each case it specifies that the reaction has to be considered "abnormal" and as a clinician you kinda can't normalize it and bill for it at the same time. 

(In general you can't actually see a client without saying, essentially, that they're mentally ill; insurance companies won't allow it.  It's annoying but of all the ethical dilemmas out there it's not one of the ones worth losing sleep over.)

Might also raise awareness of the need for more grief-centered therapies, as squid said.  There seems to be a lack where I am, but perhaps that's just in my neck of the woods.  At any rate, just because it's natural doesn't mean it's not appropriate to seek help for.

With the American psychiatric association's direct blessing or not, pathologizers gonna pathologize.  I don't think this'll do too much damage tbh.  Might do some good/actually make more diagnoses almost mean slightly more than diddlyshit.
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Offline bodie

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Re: Grieving to be labelled mental illness
« Reply #6 on: January 25, 2012, 08:13:49 PM »
I think there is a range of emotions when a loved one dies.  Some very negative ones.  I think you have to experience them all.  This takes time.  It takes longer for some people,  but it's still a normal process to go through.   I do think some people may be at risk of making themselves mentally ill,  because they won't/can't/don't complete the grieving process.  I don't think grieving is a mental illness at all,  but it could be a contributing factor for some.  It's one of thousands of reasons i guess.

As squiddy said -  if it gets help to those who are clearly struggling to cope then i don't think it's such a bad thing. 

Some parts of the globe might benefit to a change in attitude.  In my neck of the woods,  when someone dies,  people fuss around you til after the funeral,  then if you haven't gotten over it a few months later, they start crossing over the road because they don't know what to say to you.   I think this is awful.  Talking about the person is not an option round here.  People don't seem to want to do it after the funeral. :dunno:
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Offline Icequeen

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Re: Grieving to be labelled mental illness
« Reply #7 on: January 25, 2012, 08:15:55 PM »
I lost my mother in Sept, we were close. I've already had anti-depressants shoved at me twice already.  :thumbdn:

I'm functional, I don't break down in public, I don't lock myself in a room and cry all day, I still laugh when somethings funny, I still do what I need to do every day. Sure some days suck, but I don't want a pill to take it away...to NOT feel this.   

You are given a time span it seems anymore...to "get over it". Grief now has an expiration date, probably thanks to the makers of Zoloft and all the others you see advertised to ad nauseum every day. ::)

If you where really close to someone I don't think you ever "get over it"...I lost my father in 95.

I've learned that time heals in it's own way, it gets better, it never goes away, their are still days on occasion when something reminds me of him and I feel the loss, going on 17 years later.

I think if grief is "all consuming" for an extended period of time, people should be encouraged to seek help for it, but I think labeling it as a disorder is ridiculous. :zombiefuck: It's more like a learning experience in coping, although a very hard one sometimes.




   


Offline ProfessorFarnsworth

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Re: Grieving to be labelled mental illness
« Reply #8 on: January 25, 2012, 08:37:45 PM »
NEWS JUST IN: Fucktardism is also now called socially deficient internet personality disorder or SDIPD. :laugh:

But seriously though, labelling natural and healthy emotional behaviour and responses as mental disorders? WTF? ::)
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Morality can be extrapolated from these meanings to make these two commandments of godless morality: 1). Be in harmony with one another and 2). Care for the environment.

Offline Adam

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Re: Grieving to be labelled mental illness
« Reply #9 on: January 25, 2012, 08:48:39 PM »
If they're struggling to cope after more than a year then tbh I don't see what's wrong with diagnosing it

It even says in the article that this is usually people who've lost a child or someone thru violence. that's NOT "normal" and possibly similar to ptsd

it's not like they're gonna be diagnosing people with it every time they go to a funeral or something

Offline ProfessorFarnsworth

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Re: Grieving to be labelled mental illness
« Reply #10 on: January 25, 2012, 08:51:23 PM »
If they're struggling to cope after more than a year then tbh I don't see what's wrong with diagnosing it

It even says in the article that this is usually people who've lost a child or someone thru violence. that's NOT "normal" and possibly similar to ptsd

it's not like they're gonna be diagnosing people with it every time they go to a funeral or something

But then it seems PTSD covers the diagnosis instead of needing a new one. So if they're going to classify something new like that, shouldn't it belong as a subset to PTSD?
Existence actually has two broad meanings despite its apparent meaningless. The constant reconciliation of all its parts, and the conservation of any closed system as a whole.

Morality can be extrapolated from these meanings to make these two commandments of godless morality: 1). Be in harmony with one another and 2). Care for the environment.

Offline Adam

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Re: Grieving to be labelled mental illness
« Reply #11 on: January 25, 2012, 08:53:55 PM »
Yeah, maybe it should

I don't really know that much about it tbh. maybe pmselle could say whether this could just be included in a PTSD diagnosis

that would kinda make sense actually. although like I said, I dunno much about PTSD really

Offline Adam

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Re: Grieving to be labelled mental illness
« Reply #12 on: January 25, 2012, 08:55:20 PM »
although even then, perhaps it is better for something like this to have its own diagnosis - if it's grief-related then it would probably be best treated by someone very specialised . I think it would require different treatment to most PTSD cases

although the only people with PTSD I have met have been war vets

Offline Calavera

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Re: Grieving to be labelled mental illness
« Reply #13 on: January 25, 2012, 10:44:18 PM »
If they're struggling to cope after more than a year then tbh I don't see what's wrong with diagnosing it

It even says in the article that this is usually people who've lost a child or someone thru violence. that's NOT "normal" and possibly similar to ptsd

it's not like they're gonna be diagnosing people with it every time they go to a funeral or something

But then it seems PTSD covers the diagnosis instead of needing a new one. So if they're going to classify something new like that, shouldn't it belong as a subset to PTSD?

It has to be something that's perceived as a threat to one's physical/psychological health or something (and it has to be traumatizing, of course).

I don't see how the death of a loved one can do that.

Offline Queen Victoria

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Re: Grieving to be labelled mental illness
« Reply #14 on: January 25, 2012, 11:30:23 PM »
I think the Jews have a wonderful way of mourning.  In a nutshell, you mourn for 7 days where you basically just mourn.  For the next 23 days you go about your life, but refrain from social activities such as parties, weddings, etc.  If you are mourning the loss of a parent the next 11 months is spent focusing on what your parent has given, taught, inspired in you, etc.  For a more detailed explanation see http://www.aish.com/jl/l/dam/48958936.html
A good monarch is a treasure. A good politician is an oxymoron.

My brain is both uninhibited and uninhabited.

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