Bereavement and Psychiatric Hospitalization

Nicholas R. Frost, Paula J. Clayton

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14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Two hundred forty-nine psychiatric inpatients were compared with 249 matched controls and with a psychiatric hospital survey group of 95 patients for incidence of recent bereavement. There were no significant differences between the groups for loss of a first-degree relative in six months and one year prior to admission. There was a preponderance of affective disorder among the psychiatric patients with recent loss. Severe subjective grief reactions were found in the four patients who had lost a spouse or a child and in some patients who had lost a parent, while loss of a sibling usually evoked a mild reaction. Patients with alcoholism tended to increase their drinking during the bereavement period, resulting in incapacitation and hospitalization or, in the case of a control patient, in severe trauma.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1172-1175
Number of pages4
JournalArchives of General Psychiatry
Volume34
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1977

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