New treatment for complicated grief looks promising

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

A comparison of a new treatment for grief following bereavement shows it may be more effective than standard therapy.
Grief following a bereavement is natural. Sometimes, however, grieving leads to excess distress and depression, out of all proportion to the loss. This condition is known as 'complicated' grief and involves a sense of disbelief about the death, recurrent painful emotions, and preoccupation with the loved one. It is not clear, however, to what extent this is a form of clinical depression.

In an attempt to help those with complicated grief, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have been trialling a new type of therapy called complicated grief treatment (CGT), comparing it with standard psychotherapy. In their study, 83 women and 12 men aged 18 to 85 with complicated grief were assigned to one of the two treatments. In CGT, traumatic symptoms are addressed through confronting issues around the death and imagining conversations with the loved one, as well as looking at ways of promoting a sense of connection with them. At the same time, work was done towards trying to restore a satisfying life and a sense of adjustment to the loss.

After 16 sessions of either kind of therapy, half of those in the CGT group had improved, compared to 28 per cent in the conventional therapy group. So CGT looks promising, although perhaps the treatment could be developed further so that more people are likely to respond.

Source
Journal of the American Medical Association 1st June 2005 Volume 293 pages 2601-2608

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