ABSTRACT
He first deceased, she for a little tried To live without him, liked it not and died. (Sir Henry Wootton, sixteenth century) Our folklore, enshrined in these lines, has only recently been studied systematically. That bereavement can kill we now know from researchers (Young et al., 1963; Parkes et al., 1969; Rees and Lutkins, 1967) who have shown that there is an increase in the mortality rate of widowers within the first year of bereavement – that one can die of a broken heart’. Less dramatically, bereaved spouses also suffer an increase in physical and mental illness (see Parkes, 1972, for a review of research studies). More recently, we have looked at the effect on children of the death of a parent (see Black, 1978, for a review) and on parents of the death of a child (see Burton, 1974, for reviews) or a stillbirth (Lewis, 1976) and have found similar increases in ill-health. For bereaved children the effects of parental death outlast childhood (see Granville-Grossman, 1968 and Birtchnell, 1972) and influence their susceptibility to depression and alcoholism in adult life, as well as their chances of successful marriage and parenting. What is the reason for these associations? Can we isolate the aspects of death and deprivation that cause morbidity and mortality? And if we can, is there a way to intervene early to prevent them? In this chapter we will examine the normal processes which occur in the individual and in the family and which are set in train by the death of a loved one. We will look at some of the ways that grief can go wrong and what can be done to help. Finally, we will explore whether we can prevent some of the unpleasant consequences of bereavement and especially in this context consider the use of family therapy.
