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Bereavement and Anxiety

  • ANXIETY DISORDERS (DJ STEIN, SECTION EDITOR)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Bereavement, one of life’s most difficult experiences, usually triggers acute grief with yearning and longing for the deceased person that is often intense and preoccupying, along with frequent thoughts and memories of the person who died and relatively little interest in anything unrelated to the deceased loved one. Anxiety is a very common feature of grief that is often neglected. Anxiety is a natural response of the attachment system to separation from a loved one, seen in adults as well as children. Confrontation with one’s own death is also a natural trigger of anxiety, though we usually protect ourselves from mortality salience using terror management strategies related to cultural values and self-esteem. In addition, loss of a loved one can trigger the onset of a DSM-IV anxiety disorder that, when present, can derail the mourning process and prolong acute grief. Bereavement-related anxiety disorders need to be recognized and treated.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by research grants from the National Institute of Mental Health: R01MH060783 and R01MH070741.

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No potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article were reported.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Columbia University School of Social Work, 1255 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    M. Katherine Shear & Natalia A. Skritskaya

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  1. M. Katherine Shear
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  2. Natalia A. Skritskaya
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Correspondence to M. Katherine Shear.

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Shear, M.K., Skritskaya, N.A. Bereavement and Anxiety. Curr Psychiatry Rep 14, 169–175 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-012-0270-2

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