NeuroTalk Support Groups - Grief, Depression and the DSM 5

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Grief, Depression and the DSM 5

(DSM 5 is newly released Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or what I would like to call "Psychiatry gone bonkers".)

from Psychology Today
Grief and the DSM 5
Grief counselors ask us to acknowledge the wisdom of the human heart
Published on May 18, 2013 by Diane Dreher, Ph.D. in Your Personal Renaissance
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...-and-the-dsm-5

Quote:

new DSM 5 includes grief for more than 2 weeks—even after the death of a loved one—as a symptom of Major Depressive Disorder. The DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), published by the American Psychiatric Association, is the definitive guide for clinicians and insurance companies in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness.

http://www.abc.net.au/health/thepuls...m#.UaJnQkrkB6e
ABC Australia
DSM-5: why all the fuss?
by Claudine Ryan
The DSM-5 has been updated for the first time in a generation. But what exactly is this psychiatrists' 'bible' and how are its changes likely to affect you?
Published 23/05/2013

Quoting from comment at end of article by Mal Mckissock OAM
a bereavement and grief counsellor.

Quote:

Why does this matter? For at least three reasons:

First, normal reactions to the death of a loved one will be easily misclassified as the mental disorder depression. Grief is not the same experience as major depressive disorder. It is not an illness to be treated or cured. It is a healthy response to a painful reality that ones world is forever altered, and will never be the same. Absorbing this loss, and adapting to all the changes it unleashes, has its own unique course for every person, and will not be stilled or stopped by quick fixes or simple solutions. Death is a life-altering event, but grief is not a pathological condition.

_____________________

http://psychcentral.com/dsm-5/
DSM-5 Resource Guide
By John M. Grohol, Psy.D.
& Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S.

Ok, I'm confused and perhaps a little offended at the DSM V. Burying one of your kids, (he was 31 but still my kid) is certainly life changing but throw in suicide and you get to add guilt to the package. It took me YEARS before I could talk about it and then more YEARS to forgive him (lot of anger in there) until I finally came to acceptance.

If that makes me "crazy", I've met a lot of grieving mothers over the years who are also "crazy".

I'm so glad you found this Lara...I'm going to keep reading there. ~sigh

Morning Alffe,
It's a huge subject isn't it.
I don't think the guidelines are saying you're crazy but I do think that what a lot of the grief and bereavement councellors are concerned about is that grief will be medicalized. I'm absolutely sure that it's possible to become depressed during the grieving process, but I think that allowing 2 weeks of grieving after a tragic loss is almost laughable. I grieve for lost pets for years. I don't *think* I get depressed and the grief does fade off but it's still loss and still grief. I was thinking about the "process"... when my mother died when I was little child, I was too young I guess to really have it affect me greatly but I did grieve in my childlike way. Then as I got older all manner of problems arose in my mind concerning her dying. I would have to say it turned into depression but that was more that I was stuck with unhealthy patterns of thinking. Unrealistic too.

I think it's just all too complicated to have bundled grief and depression together like that. There's also the cultural implications of grief. Many cultures grieve very differently from others, just as every person grieves in different ways and at different pace.

The main thing will be for grief councellors to keep plodding away and making sure they recognize every individual situation. The fear is I guess that people will present to medical professionals and be give an anti-depressant in the very early stages of grieving and not address the REAL issues.

anyway, it's so complicated and it's very early here. Hope some of that makes sense. :)

Quoting Lara, "I think it's just all too complicated to have bundled grief and depression together like that. There's also the cultural implications of grief. Many cultures grieve very differently from others, just as every person grieves in different ways and at different pace." And I loved
"Psychiatry gone bonkers". I couldn't agree more. :grouphug: