Grief, depression and mourning

There is a difference to take into account in these concepts; Let's start with the definitions.

Grief is a process in situations of profound change, unexpected or planned emotional movements and/or loss of a loved one, death. In addition, grief has a beginning and an end process, it goes through a phase of depression in one of its stages, which is overcome in the next phase, giving space to acceptance.

Depression and clinical melancholy it is that diagnosis that needs to be approached beyond the therapeutic word when there are risks or suicidal ideation that endangers the life of the patient.

The mourners are those people who drag in their day to day some situation that they interpret as negative, obtaining a victimizing posture that accompanies them in their daily dynamics.

How can we think the difference between these concepts, which are socially observed permanently?

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Distinguishing between depression, bereavement and mourning

The difference to highlight is the position of the subject in such situations and the time he spends in them.

Every situation that we go through in life that modifies us by choice or by surprise our habitual state, where we must leave something behind to advancing to something new, to what is different requires a process of assimilation and accommodation, being necessary to hurt what is left behind or that is misses. Perhaps the most relevant mourning is the loss of a loved one, the death.

Each duel goes through five stages, according to the investigations of Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler Ross, after a certain time and having gone through them, little by little contact with life is resumed, housing in the being the beautiful memory of what was lost.

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The stages: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance

The pain goes through the subject completely in moments of loss and deep changes, disconnection from reality and isolation are frequently observed in a duel.

1. Denial

Denial is associated with that defense mechanism where things cannot be seen as they could happen, denying what happened to be able to continue, the state of shock at the moment is present.

2. Gonna

The wrath, is the anger associated with frustrations and feelings of helplessness for not having been able to modify the consequences of such a loss.

3. Negotiation

The negotiation is to try psychically and with illusion return to the life you had before the loss, looking for and repeating phrases like: if I had done such an action… If I hadn't gone… Remaining in those capsules for a certain time.

4. Depression

Depression, all appear feelings of sadness, uncertainty, unease, emptiness, loneliness and disconnection from reality. At this stage you can visualize more clearly what happened and with great pain you move on to the stage of acceptance.

5. Acceptance

This stage begins to be able to look at reality differently, from the front, changes the subjective position and looking without veils in the eyes begins to be part of reality. With this process, the beautiful memory of what was lost is allowed to settle.

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What is the difference between grief and depression?

On some occasions and with certain psychic characteristics pre-established by structure in the person, when going through the stages of mourning, the subject remains anchored in the depressive phase, settling there to give entity and strength to such diagnosis.

Clinical depression sets in, the disconnection from reality being deeper and more permanent, losing the daily dynamics, such as social contacts, concentration difficulties, insomnia, anguish, apathy, apathy with a significant reluctance.

In these cases, the patient must be accompanied in an interdisciplinary manner with a specialist in the area of ​​psychiatry, not being enough the word with the therapeutic treatment. The psychopharmaceutical is surely supplied by the treating professional, this being necessary to generate the connection again and resume speaking. Thus, and in a joint and interdisciplinary manner, the mental health of the patient is addressed.

In duels in the face of the loss of loved ones, in the face of death, the representations that had been projected with that person are of great suffering, and the first round of the annual clock is the most complex to navigate. The empty chair, the first birthday in absence, such a party and the emptiness of someone who is not there, are representations that remain hollow and without space.

The mourning patient is the one who is taken by some initial situation that he interpreted as negative, sad or devastating and makes of that sensation or interpretation a permanent company. Walk through life with heaviness in everything he does, although he continues with his activities, he does so from a victimizing, forced, sad posture.

They are those patients with repeated speeches, in which you hear: Everything goes wrong for me... I'm not lucky... Nobody loves Me... They amalgamate these speeches without registering what was expressed, without asking, or looking for how to get out of there.

How to help in each of these cases?

In the case of the duel, therapeutic treatment, the family and social support network are supportive factors to the person who suffers it, putting that pain and sadness into words in order to go through it and elaborate it, waiting for and accompanying the internal times of each patient, listening in a passive and alert position to try that the stages can go by and do not stay inside of being

In the case of clinical depression, in addition to what is mentioned in the previous paragraph, as we have already said, we must make a referral to an interconsultation psychiatric clinic to be evaluated the possibility of prescribing the appropriate psychotropic drug, thus helping and preventing the act with ideations that are manifest.

In the case of patients with mourning characteristics, we work from the therapeutic position trying to take the patient to the position of the desiring subject, so that he can consider what his desire is and be able to generate enthusiasm and empathy with life from that place.

Remember that each patient is unique., with a particular life history that must be taken into account when approaching the different treatments.

Observing, accompanying and respecting the internal and own times in each case. Accompanying these processes is a beautiful therapeutic task.