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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffComplicated grief treatment hasn't been standardized because mental health providers are still learning about the condition. Research studies testing various types of treatment have had mixed results. That isn't to say that treatment isn't helpful, though. More study is needed to help determine which treatment options may be best for complicated grief.
Psychotherapy
Some studies have shown significant benefits from treating complicated grief with a type of psychotherapy called complicated grief therapy, which borrows from cognitive behavioral therapy and trauma therapy. You may learn about such topics as grief reactions, complicated grief symptoms, adjusting to your loss and redefining your life's goals. You may also hold imagined conversations with your loved one and retell the circumstances of the death to help you become less distressed by images and thoughts of your loved one.
Other forms of therapy, such as interpersonal therapy or psychodynamic psychotherapy, also may be effective. Therapy can help you explore and process emotions, improve coping skills and reduce feelings of blame and guilt.
Medications
There's little solid research on the use of psychiatric medications to treat complicated grief. However, some research has shown benefits from using antidepressants in the class of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) to reduce complicated grief symptoms.
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- Lipsitz JD. Interpersonal theory of depression. Gabbard GO, ed. Textbook of Psychotherapeutic Treatments. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing; 2009. http://www.psychiatryonline.com. Accessed July 13, 2009.
- Marchand L. End-of-life care. In: Rakel RE. Rakel: Textbook of Family Medicine. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/149504704-3/862284999/1494/128.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2954-0..50085-5_4160. Accessed July 13, 2009.
- Block SD. Grief and bereavement. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 13, 2009.
- Kendler KS, et al. Does bereavement-related major depression differ from major depression associated with other stressful life events? American Journal of Psychiatry.2008;165:1449.
- Abrahm JL. Caring for patients at the end of life. In: Abeloff MD, et al. Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/149504704-4/862286866/1709/49.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06694-8..50048-8_1340. Accessed July 13, 2009.
- Siegel MD, et al. Psychiatric illness in the next of kin of patients who die in the intensive care unit. Critical Care Medicine. 2008;36:1722.
- Complicated grief. National Cancer Institute. http://www.nci.nih.gov/cancertopics/pdq/supportivecare/bereavement/Patient/page8. Accessed July 13, 2009.
- Major depression and complicated grief. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/MBC/content/MBC_4_1X_Major_Depression_and_Complicated_Grief.asp. Accessed July 13, 2009.
- Simon NM, et al. Complicated grief: A case series using escitalopram. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2007;164:1760.
- Prigerson HG, et al. Inventory of complicated grief: A scale to measure maladaptive symptoms of loss. Psychiatry Research. 1995;59:65.
- Hall-Flavin DK (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. July 15, 2009.
