Effects of Bereavement on Physical and Mental Health--a Study of the Medical Records of Widows

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Abstract
In widows under the age of 65 the consultation rate for psychiatric symptoms more than trebled during the first 6 months after bereavement. The increase wad greatest during the first 6 months. The amount of sedation prescribed to widows under the age of 65 was 7 times greater during the 18 months after bereavement than it had been during the control period. No such changes in the consultation rate for psychiatric symptoms and in sedatives prescribed were found among widows over the age of 65. The consultation rate for non-psychiatric symptoms increased by nearly a half in both older and younger widows. This change in the consultation rate was most pronounced in the subgroup diagnosed "osteoarthritis," which increased by one and a half times after bereavement. The likely explanations of the findings have been discussed, and it is concluded, inter alia, that grief is a syndrome which commonly causes the widow to seek help from her general practitioner. As yet little attention has been paid to it in the medical curriculum.

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