ABSTRACT
Doctors are exposed to different facets of human suffering in their professional and personal lives. Paradoxically, one of the most uplifting, important experiences in medicine is to witness patients and their families endure enormous loss with courage and dignity. Doctors, like the rest of the population, can experience intense emotional reactions after bereavement, including crying, irritability, worry, anger, guilt, insomnia, bad dreams, loss of interest in usual activities, depression and anxiety. Grief is likely to be more severe if there is a history of mental illness, a lack of social support or an unexpected or violent death of a loved one, especially a spouse or a child. Loss is not only felt with death, disability and loss of independence. Other life changes such as relationship breakdowns, job changes particularly due to unemployment or retirement, role changes when children are born or leave home, or moving away from family and friends, can leave a profound sense of loss too.
