TUESDAY, Feb. 20 (HealthDay News) -- After the loss of a family member from natural causes, grief indicators typically peak in the first six months, and contrary to the stage theory of grief, disbelief is not the dominant emotion, according to a report in the Feb. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Family members who continue to score high on grief indicators after this time may need further evaluation.
Paul K. Maciejewski, Ph.D., of Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., and colleagues conducted a longitudinal study of 233 bereaved individuals who were assessed for indications of the five conventionally accepted stages of grief (disbelief, yearning, anger, depression and acceptance) in the two years after a loss.
The study found that the initial, dominant grief item was not disbelief, but yearning, which peaked at four months after the loss, compared to one month after the loss for disbelief. Anger and depression peaked at five and six months post-loss, respectively. The final stage, acceptance, increased steadily over the 24-month follow-up period.
"Regardless of how the data are analyzed, all of the negative grief indicators are in decline by approximately six months post-loss. The persistence of these negative emotions beyond six months is therefore likely to reflect a more difficult than average adjustment and suggests the need for further evaluation of the bereaved survivor and potential referral for treatment," the authors conclude.
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