'Complicated Grief' Goes Beyond Depression

[Dover]

'Complicated Grief' Goes Beyond Depression By JENNIFER C. YATES, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 31, 5:14 PM ET



PITTSBURGH - In the months after David Golebiewski's 19-year-old daughter was killed in a car crash, grief consumed his life. He couldn't go to the restaurant where his daughter had worked, and he spent five hours a day in Internet chat rooms with other parents who lost children.

Doctors say Golebiewski was suffering from "complicated grief" — a condition some hope will soon be recognized by the American Psychiatric Association.

They say the condition is more severe than grief and different from depression, and affects as many as 1 million people a year.

Dr. Katherine Shear, a psychiatry professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, said that with complicated grief, the usual feelings of disbelief, loss and anguish do not go away, and eventually affect every part of a person's life.

Left untreated, doctors say, complicated grief can lead to depression, suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, even heart disease...cont'd

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050531/ap_on_he_me/complicated_grief;_ylt=AgkrsM2f0z_ss4vNSTG4r8ys0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2bXJyZDI0BHNlYwNobA--

[patricia92243]

1. It took a good ten years before I "got over" my son's death. It

changed me forever, and therefore has affected the rest of my family.

I'm not sure what can be done to help people. Anti-depresents are wonderful but not enough. I also went for counseling.

[gate of the sun]

2. I don't think it's really that complicated

"only love can break your heart"