West Virginia University School of Medicine, Charleston Division (Drs. Fields and Mears); Grant Family Medicine Residency, Columbus, Ohio (Dr. Johnson) sfields@hsc.wvu.edu
The authors reported no potential conflict of interest relevant to this article.
In 2016 Drs. Fields and Johnson presented on this topic as a Clinical Practice Update at the 37th Forum for Behavioral Science in Family Medicine, Chicago, Ill.
Several DSM-5 criteria lasting 6 months or longer can help identify complicated grief, as can available assessment tools. Treatment has a unique focus.
Al* is a 48-year-old patient whose wife, Vera, died of complications from chronic illness 14 months ago. Al thinks about Vera constantly and says he still has difficulty accepting that she is gone. He does not leave the house much anymore and continues to set a place for her at the kitchen table on special occasions. He says, “Some nights in bed, I swear I can hear her in the living room.”
How would you proceed with this patient?
* The names of the patient and his spouse have been changed to protect their identities.
