A spouse’s death is a traumatic experience, deeply affecting most surviving spouses for six months to a year. But for a small number of spouses, the feelings of loneliness, yearning and disbelief don’t subside, says a health feature in the February issue of the New England Journal of Medicine’s HealthNews.
Such spouses may suffer from chronic insomnia, alcohol dependence, high blood pressure and depression, and their negative feelings may lead to suicide. When people suffer from such traumatic grief, it is important that they seek help through psychotherapy and possible anti-depressant medication. Drugs, including bupropion (Wellbutrin), paroxetine (Paxil) and nortriptyline (Aventyl and Pamelor), have been successful in reducing the severity of grief.
