Clinical and biological aspects of bereavement and loss-induced depression: A reappraisal

Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics

Volumn 65, Issue 5, 1996, Pages 229-245

  Biondi, M ^a   Picardi, A ^a  

^a SAPIENZA UNIVERSITY OF ROME   (Italy)

Author keywords

Bereavement; Brain mind dichotomy; Depression; Grief; Loss; Psychoimmunology; Psychoneuroendocrinology; Stress

Indexed keywords

BIOGENIC AMINE; NEUROPEPTIDE; NEUROTRANSMITTER;

ADJUSTMENT; ADRENAL CORTEX; ANXIETY; BEREAVEMENT; DEPRESSION; GENE EXPRESSION; GRIEF; HUMAN; IMMUNITY; MORTALITY; PHYSICAL DISEASE; REVIEW; RISK FACTOR; SOCIAL SUPPORT;

EID: 0029855643     PISSN: 00333190     EISSN: 14230348     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1159/000289082     Document Type: Article

References (113)

1. Zisook S: Death, dying, and bereavement: in Kaplan HI, Sadock BJ (eds): Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, cd 6, Baltimore, Williams & Wilkins, 1995.
2. Parkes CM: Bereavement: Studies of Grief in Adult Life, London, Tavistock, 1972.
3. Parkes CM: Bereavement, Br J Psychiatry 1985:146:11-17.
4. Wart' P: Psychological aspects of employment and unemployment, Psychol Med 1982:12:7-11.
5. Kcddic KMG: Pathological mourning after the death of a domestic pet, Br J Psychiatry 1977: 131:21-35.
6. Shukla GD, Sahu GC, Tripathi RP, Gupta DK: A psychiatric study of amputees, Br J Psychiatry 1982;141:50-53.
7. Freud S: Mourning and Melancholia; in Collected Works, vol 14, London, Hogarth Press, 1957.
8. Abraham K: A Short Study on the Development of the Lbido; Viewed in the Light of Mental Disorders, Selected Papers in Psychoanalysis, London, Hogarth Press, 1969.
9. Deutsch H: Absence of grief, Psychoanal Q 1937;6:12-22.
10. Lindemann E: Symptomatology and management of acute grief, Am J Psychiatry 1944; 101: 141-148.
11. Bowlby J: Attachment and Loss, vol III: Loss, Sadness and Depression, London, Hogarth Press, 1980.
12. Parkes CM, Weiss RS: Recovery from Bereavement, New York, Basic Books, 1983.
13. Neimeyer RA, Epting FR, Krieger SR: Personal constructs in thanatology: An introduction and research bibliography; in Epting FR, Nie-meyer RA (eds): Personal Meanings of Death, Washington, Hemisphere, 1984.
14. Rowe D: Constructing life and death; in Epting FR, Nicmeyer RA (eds): Personal Meanings of Death, Washington, Hemisphere, 1984.
15. Guidano VF: The Self in Process, Toward a Post-Rationalist Cognitive Therapy, New York, Guilford Press, 1991.
16. Clegg F: Bereavement; in Fisher S, Reason J (eds): Handbook of Life Stress, Cognition and Health, New York, 1988.
17. American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders, cd 4, Washington, APA Press, 1995.
18. Thompson LW, Gallaghcr-Thompson D, Fut-terman A, Gilcvski MJ, Peterson J: The effects of late-life spousal bereavement over a 30-month interval, Psychol Aging 1991;6:434-441.
19. Horowitz MJ, Wilner N, Marmer C, Krupnick J: Pathological grief and the activation of latent self-images, Am J Psychiatry' 1980:137:1157-1162.
20. Ness DE, Pfrcffer CR: Sequelae of bereavement resulting from suicide, Am J Psychiatry' 1990:147:279-285.
21. Holmes TH, Rahe RH: The social readjustment rating scale, J Psychosom Res 1967; 11: 213-218.
22. Levav I, Friedlander Y, Kark JD, Peritz E: An epidemiologic study of mortality among bereaved parents, N Engl J Med 1988;319:457-461.
23. Wallston BS, Alagna SW, DeVellis BM, DeVel-lis RF: Social support and physical health, Health Psychol 1983;2:367.
24. House JS, Landis KR, Umbcrson D: Social relationships and health, Science 1988;241: 540-545.
25. Polak PR, Egan D, Vandcrbcrgh R: Prevention in mental health: A controlled study, Am J Psychiatry 1975;132:146-149.
26. Raphael B: Preventive intervention with the recently bereaved, Arch Gen Psychiatry 1977; 34:450-454.
27. Vachon ML, Lyall WA, Rogers J: A controlled study of self-help intervention for widows, Am J Psychiatry 1980;137:1380-1384.
28. Volkan V: The linking objects of pathological mourners, Arch Gen Psychiatry 1972:27:215-221.
29. Mawson D, Marks IM, Ramm L, Stern RS: Guided mourning for morbid grief: A controlled study, Br J Psychiatry 1981:138:185-193.
30. Lieberman S: Nineteen cases of morbid grief, Br J Psychiatry 1978,132:159-163.
31. Ramsay RW: Behavioural approaches to bereavement, Behav ResTher 1977;15:131-135.
32. Lundin T: Morbidity following sudden and unexpected bereavement, Br J Psychiatry 1984; 144:84-88.
33. Clayton PJ: Bereavement and depression, J Clin Psychiatry 1990;51(suppl 7):34-38.
34. Zisook S, Shuchter SR: Depression through the first year after the death of a spouse, Am J Psychiatry' 1991;148:1346-1352.
35. Zisook S, Schneider D, Schuchter SR: Anxiety and bereavement, Psychiatr Med 1990:8:83-96.
36. Birley JLT, Brown GW: Crises and life changes preceding the onset or relapse of acute schizophrenia: Clinical aspects, Br J Psychiatry' 1970; 116:327.
37. Chung RK, Langeluddecke P, Tennant C: Threatening life events in the onset of schizophrenia, schizophreniform psychosis and hy-pomania, Br J Psychiatry 1986;148:680-685.
38. Parkcs CM: Bereavement and mental illness, Part 1: A clinical study of the grief of bereaved psychiatric patients, Part 2: A classification of bereavement reactions, Br J Med Psychol 1965;38:1-26.
39. Ambelas A: Psychologically stressful events in the precipitation of manic episodes, Br J Psychiatry 1979; 135:15-21.
40. Maddison D, Viola A: The health of widows following bereavement, J Psychosom Res 1968; 12:297-306.
41. Parkes CM, Brown RJ: Health after bereavement: A controlled study of young Boston widows and widowers, Psychosom Med 1972; 34:449-461.
42. Mor V, McHomey C, Sherwood S: Secondary morbidity among the recently bereaved, Am J Psychiatry 1986;143:158-163.
43. Jacobs S, Ostfeld A: An epidemiological review of the mortality of bereavement, Psychosom Med 1977;39:344-357.
44. Stroebe MS, Stroebe W: Who suffers more? Sex differences in health risks of the widowed, Psychol Bull 1983;93:279-301.
45. Parkcs CM: The first year of bereavement, A longitudinal study of the reaction of London widows to the death of their husbands, Psychiatry 1970;33:444-467.
46. Jones DR, Goldblatt PO, Leon DA: Bereavement and cancer: Some data on deaths of spouses from the longitudinal study of Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, Br Med J 1984;238:461-464.
47. Heising KJ, Szklo M: Mortality after bereavement, Am J Epidem 1981:114:41-52.
48. Heising KL, Szklo M, Comstock EW: Factors associated with mortality after widowhood, Am J Public Health 1981:71:802-809.
49. Kaprio J, Koskcnvko M, Rita HH: Mortality after bereavement: A prospective study of 96,647 widowed persons, Am J Public Health 1987;77:283-287.
50. Jagger C, Sutton CJ: Death after marital bereavement: Is the risk increased? Stat Med 1991:10:395-404.
51. Hofer MA, Wolff CT, Friedman SB, Mason JW: A psychoendocrine study of bereavement: Part II, Observations on the process of mourning in relation to adrenocortical function, Psy-chosom Med 1972:34:492-504.
52. Jacobs SC, Mason J, Kosten TR, Kasly SV, Ostfeld AM, Wahby V: Urinary free cortisol and separation anxiety early in the course of bereavement and threatened loss, Biol Psychiatry 1987;22:148-152.
53. Roy A, Gallucci W, Avgerinos P, Linnoila M, Gold P: The CRH stimulation test in bereaved subjects with and without accompanying depression, Psychiatry'Res 1988:25:145-156.
54. Das M, Berrios GE: Dexamethasone suppression test in acute grief reaction, Acta Psychiatr Scand 1984:70:278-281.
55. Schuchter SR, Zisook S, Kirkorowitz C, Risch C: The dexamethasone test in acute grief, Am J Psychiatry' 1986;143:879-881.
56. Weller EB, Weller RA, Fristad MA, Bowes JM: Dexamethasone suppression test and depressive symptoms in bereaved children: A preliminary' report, J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 1990;2:418-421.
57. Spratt ML, Denney DR: Immune variables, depression, and plasma cortisol over time in suddenly bereaved parents, J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 1991;3:299-306.
58. Kosten TR, Jacobs SC, Mason JW: The dexamethasone suppression test during bereavement, J Nerv Ment Dis 1984; 172:359-360.
59. Wolff CT, Friedman SB, Hofer MA, Mason JW: Relationship between psychological defenses and mean urinary 17-hydroxycorticoste-roid excretion rates, Part I, Predictive study of parents of fatally ill children, Psychosom Med 1964;26:576-591.
60. Wolff CT, Friedman SB, Hofer MA, Mason JW: Relationship between psychological defenses and mean urinary 17-hydroxycorticoste-roid excretion rates, Part II, Methodological and theoretical consideration, Psychosom Med 1964;26:592-609.
61. Hofer MA, Wolff CT, Friedman SB, Mason JW: A psychoendocrine study of bereavement, Part I, 17-hydroxycorticostcroid rates of parents following death of their children from leukemia, Psychosom Med 1972,34:481-491.
62. Kosten TR, Jacobs S, Mason J, Wahby V, Atkins S: Psychological corelates of growth hormone response to stress, Psychosom Med 1984; 46:49-57.
63. Bartrop RW, Lazarus L, Luckhurst E, Kiloh LG, Penny R: Depressed lymphocyte function after bereavement, Lancet 1977;Vol i:834-836.
64. Schleifer SJ, Keller SE, Camcrino M, Thornton JC, Stein M: Suppression of lymphocyte stimulation following bereavement, JAMA 1983; 250:374-377.
65. Lin MW, Linn BS, Jensen J: Stressful events, dysphoric mood, and immune responsiveness, Psychol Rep 1984;54:219-222.
66. Irwin M, Daniels M, Bloom E, et al: Depression and changes in Tcell subpopulations, Psychosom Med 1986:48:303-304.
67. Irwin M, Daniels M, Bloom E, Weiner H: Life events, depression, and natural killer cell function, Psychopharmacol Bull 1986:22:1093-1096.
68. Irwin M, Daniels M, Bloom E, Smith TL, Weiner H: Life events, depressive symptoms, and immune function, Am J Psychiatry 1987; 144:437-441.
69. Irwin M, Daniels M, Smith TL, Bloom E, Weiner H: Impaired natural killer cell activity during bereavement, Brain Bchav Immunol 1987;1:98-104.
70. Zisook S, Schuchter SR, Irwin M, Darko DF, Sledge P, Resovsky K: Bereavement, depression, and immune function, Psychiatry Res 1993;52:1-10.
71. Gatti G, Mascra RG, Pallavicini L, Sartori ML, Stauenghi A, Orlandi F, Angeli A: Interplay in vivo between ACTH, beta-endorphin, and glucocorticoids in the modulation of spontaneous and lymphokine-inducible human natural killer cell activity, Brain Behav Immun 1993;7: 16-28.
72. Irwin M, Daniels M, Risch SC, Bloom E, Weiner H: Plasma cortisol and natural killer cell activity during bereavement, Biol Psychiatry 1988;24:173-178.
73. Hofer MA: Relationships as regulators: A psy-chobiological perspective on bereavement, Psychosom Med 1984,46:183-197.
74. Ametz BB, Wasserman J, Petrini B: Immune function in unemployed women, Psychosom Med 1987;49:3-12.
75. Kiecolt-Glaser JK, Fischer L, Ogrocki P, Stout JC, Speicher CE, Glaser R: Marital quality, marital disruption, and immune function, Psychosom Med 1987;49:13-34.
76. Kiecolt-Glaser JK, Kennedy S, Malkoff S, Fischer L, Speicher CE, Glaser R: Marital discord and immunity in males, Psychosom Med 1988;50:213-229.
77. Stein M, Miller AH, Trestman RL: Depression and the immune system; in Ader R, Felten DL, Cohen N (eds): Psychoneuroimmunology, ed 2, New York, Academic Press, 1991.
78. Schleifer SJ, Keller SE, Bond RN, Cohen J, Stein M: Major depressive disorder: Role of age, sex, severity and hospitalization, Arch Gen Psychiatry 1989;46:81-87.
79. Levine S, Wiener SG: Psychoendocrine aspects of mother-infant relationships in nonhuman primates, Psychoneuroendocrinology 1988:13: 143-154.
80. Coe CL: Psychosocial factors and immunity in nonhuman primates: A review, Psychosom Med 1993;55:298-308.
81. Bayart F, Hayashi KT, Faull KF, Barchas JD, Levine S: Influence of maternal proximity on behavioral and physiological responses to separation in infant rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatto), Bchav Neurosci 1990; 104:98-107.
82. Coe CL, Wiener SG, Rosenberg LT, Levine S: Physiological consequences of maternal separation and loss in the squirrel monkey; in Rosen-blum LA, Coe CL (eds): Handbook of Squirrel Monkey Research, New York, Plenum Press, 1985.
83. Highley JD, Suomi SJ, Linnoila M: CSF monoamine metabolite concentrations vary according to age, rearing and sex, and are influenced by the stressor of social separation in rhesus monkeys, Psychopharmacology 1991; 103:551-556.
84. Highley JD, Suomi SJ, Linnoila M: A longitudinal assessment of CSF monoamine metabolite and plasma cortisol concentrations in your.g rhesus monkeys, Biol Psychiatry 1992; 32:127-145.
85. Kling A, Lloyd R, Tachiki K, Prince H, Klimenko V, Korneva E: Effects of social separation on immune function and brain neuro-transmitters in cebus monkey (C, apella), Ann New York Acad Sci 1992;650:257-261.
86. McKinney WT: Animal research and its relevance to psychiatry; in Kaplan HI, Sadock BJ (eds): Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, ed 6, Baltimore, Williams& Wilkins, 1995.
87. Harris JC, Newman JD: Mediation of separation-induced distress by alphai-adrenergic mechanisms in a non-human primate, Brain Res 1987;410:353-356.
88. Kalin NH, Shelton SE, Barksdale CM: Separation distress in infant rhesus monkeys: Effects of diazepam and Ro 15-1788, Brain Res 1987; 408:192-198.
89. Kalin NH, Shelton SE, Barksdale CM: Opiate modulation of separation-induced distress in non-human primates, Brain Res 1988:440: 285-292.
90. Glaser R, Kennedy S, Lafuse WP, Bonneau RH, Speicher C, Hillhouse J, Kiecolt-Glaser JK: Psychological stress-induced modulation of interleukin 2 receptor gene expression and interleukin 2 production in peripheral blood leukocytes, Arch Gen Psychiatry 1990;47:707-712.
91. Glaser R, Lafuse WP, Bonneau RH, Atkinson C, Kiecolt-Glaser JK: Stress-associated modulation of proto-oncogene expression in human peripheral blood leukocytes, Behav Neurosci 1993;107:525-529.
92. Plotsky PM, Meaney MJ: Early, postnatal experience alters hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) mRNA, median eminence CRF content and stress-induced release in adult rats, Mol Brain Res 1993;18:195-200.
93. Greer NL, Bartolomé JV, Schanberg SM: Further evidence for the hypothesis that beta-endorphin mediates maternal deprivation effects, Life Sci 1991;48:643-648.
94. Irwin MR, Strausbaugh H: Stress and immune changes in humans: A biopsychosocial model; in Gorman JM, Kertzncr RM (eds): Psychoimmunology Update, Washington, American Psychiatric Press, 1991.
95. Dantzer R, Mormedc P: Psychoncuroimmu-nology of stress: in Leonard B, Miller K (eds): Stress, the Immune System and Psychiatry, New York, Wiley, 1995.
96. Kiccolt-Glaser JK, Glaser R: Stress and immune function in humans; in Ader R, Felten DL, Cohen N (eds): Psychoneuroimmunology, ed 2, New York, Academic Press, 1991.
97. Biondi M: Beyond the brain-mind dichotomy and toward a common organizing principle of pharmacological and psychological treatments, Psychothcr Psychosom 1995;64:1-8.
98. Pancheri P, Reda GC: La depressione come malattia psicosomatica; in Cassano GB (ed): La condizione depressiva, Milano, Masson, 1982.
99. Biondi M, Di Fabio F: Disturbi deM’umore nel DSM-1V e neH’ICD-10: in Pancheri P, Biondi M (eds): L'apatia, Roma, Il Pensiero Scientifico, 1995.
100. Zisook S: Unresolved grief; in Zisook S (ed): Biopsychosocial Aspects of Bereavement, Washington, American Psychiatric Press, 1987.
101. Jacobs S: Measures of the psychological distress of bereavement; in Zisook S (ed): Biopsychosocial Aspects of Bereavement, Washington, American Psychiatric Press, 1987.
102. Prigerson HG, Frank E, Kasl SV, Reynolds CF, Anderson B, Zubenko GS, Houck PR, George CJ, Kupfer DJ: Complicated grief and bereavement-related depression as distinct disorders: Preliminary empirical validation in elderly bereaved spouses, Am J Psychiatry 1995;152:22-30.
103. Bibring E: The mechanism of depression; in Greenacre P (ed): Affective Disorders, New York, International University Press, 1953.
104. Arieti S, Bemporad J: Severe and Mild Depression, New York, Basic Books, 1978.
105. Fava M, Rosenbaum JF, Pava JA, McCarthy MK, Steingard RJ, Bouffides E: Anger attacks in unipolar depression: Part I, Clinical correlates and response to fluoxetine treatment, Am J Psychiatry 1993; 150:1158-1163.
106. Fava GA, Kellner R, Munari F, Pavan L, Pesarin F: Losses, hostility and depression, J Nerv Ment Dis 1982;170:474-478.
107. Brown GW, Harris T, Copeland JR: Depression and loss, Br J Psychiatry 1977; 130:1-18.
108. Gcycr MA, Markou AA: Animal models of psychiatry disorders; in Bloom FE, Kupfer DJ (eds): Psychopharmacology: The Fourth Generation of Progress, New York, Raven Press, 1995.
109. Weiss JM, Simson PG, Simson PE: Neuro-chemical basis of stress-induced depression; in Weiner H, Florin I, Murison R, Hcllham-mer D (eds): Frontiers of Stress Research, Toronto, Huber, 1989.
110. Biondi M, Pancheri P: Stress; in Pancheri P, Cassano GB (eds): Trattato italiano di psichiatria, Milano, Masson, 1992.
111. Hyman SE, Nestler EJ: The Molecular Foundations of Psychiatry, Washington, American Psychiatry Press, 1993.
112. Biondi M, Costantini A, Parisi A: Can loss and grief activate latent neoplasia? A clinical case of possible interaction between genetic risk and stress in breast cancer, Psychother Psychosom 1996;65:102-105.
113. Chamey DS, Detch AY, Krystal JH, South-wick SM, Davis M: Psychobiologic mechanisms of posttraumatic stress disorder, Arch Gen Psychiatry 1993;50:294-305.