Mourning and the prevention of melancholia

Bibliographic Data

ID9618655
AuthorsBeverley Raphael (corresponding author)
Year1978
Volume51
Issue4
Pages303-310
Publication date1978-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Medical Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-1129 • E-ISSN: 2056-5194
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.2044-8341.1978.tb02475.x
PMID737142
OpenAlexW1987470298
LanguageEN
Citations received6

Freud suggested that a high level of ambivalence in the previous relationship between the bereaved and the deceased was likely to complicate the process of mourning, perhaps leading to melancholia. Within a study testing the effectiveness of preventive intervention, a subgroup of recently bereaved widows ( n = 22) were rated as having had a highly ambivalent marital relationship with their spouses. Psychotherapeutic intervention to promote the resolution of the ambivalence within the mourning process was given to a randomly selected group of these women during the first three months following the husbands' deaths. All subjects were followed up independently by questionnaire 13 months after the death. Intervention subjects ( n = 12) showed significantly better general health and a lower level of depressive illness than controls ( n = 10)

Ambivalence · Intervention (counseling) · Melancholia · Psychiatry · Psychoanalysis · Psychotherapist · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Clinical Psychology · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Identity, Memory, and Therapy · Psychology