
Manifestations of Depression in Grief
VEGETATIVE SYMPTOMS
Anhedonia
Anorexia
Apathy
Decreased energy
Decreased initiative
Decreased motivation
Decreased sexual desire or hyper-sexuality
Psychomotor retardation or agitation
Sleep difficulties
Social withdrawal
Somatic problems
Tearfulness and crying
Tension and anxiety
Weight loss or gain
Withdrawal
COGNITIVE DISRUPTION
Concerns about going crazy or losing control
Confusion
Decreased effectiveness or productivity
Depersonalization
Disorganization
Feeling out of control
Feeling overwhelmed
Feeling tentative or unsure
Lack of clarity
Lack of concentration
Obsessive thinking
Problems with decision making
COMBINATION OF ANGER AND DEPRESSION
Aggression
Agitation
Belligerence
Disillusionment
Emotional lability
Feeling as if something is about to happen
Feeling bombarded or overwhelmed
Frustration
Heightened psychological and physiological arousal
Hyperactivity
Intolerance
Irritability
Nervousness
Obstinacy
Over reactivity
Over sensitivity
Restlessness
Rigidity
Searching behavior
Tension
SUBJECTIVE FEELINGS
Abandonment
Ambivalence
Anguish
Anxiety
Dependency
Deprivation
Despair
Fear
Guilt
Helplessness
Hopelessness
Inadequacy
Insecurity
Lack of concern for self
Loneliness
Meaninglessness
Pessimism
Pining, yearning and longing
Powerlessness
Regression
Sadness
Self-reproach
Separation
Shame
Timidity and non-assertiveness
Unreality
Vulnerability
Worry
Worthlessness
Characteristics and meaning of the loss sustained and the relationship severed
The unique nature and meaning of the relationship severed
The individual qualities of the relationship lost
The roles that the child occupied in the family
The characteristics of the deceased child
The amount of unfinished business between the parent and the child
The parent's perception of the child's fulfillment in life
The number, type and quality of secondary losses for the parent
Characteristics of the grieving parent
The parent's coping behaviors, personality, and mental health
The parent's level of maturity and intelligence
The parent's past experiences with loss and death
The parent's social, cultural, ethnic, and religious/philosophical background
The parent's sex-role conditioning
The parent's age
The presence of concurrent stresses or crises in the parent's life
Characteristics of the death
The death surround
The timeliness of the death
The parent's perception of the preventability of the death
Whether the death was sudden or expected
The length of the illness prior to death
The amount of the parent's anticipatory grief and involvement with the dying child
The social factors influencing the bereaved parent's response to the death of the child include the following:
The parent's social support system and the acceptance and assistance of its members
The parent's socio-cultural, ethnic, and religious/philosophical background
The parent's educational, economic, and occupational status
the funerary rituals utilized
The physiological factors influencing the bereaved parent's response to the death of the child include the following:
The parent's use of drugs and sedatives
The parent's nutrition
the amount of rest and sleep the parent receives
The parent's physical health
The amount of exercise the parent gets
Source: Rando, Therese A. Parental Loss of a Child, Research Press Company, Champaign, Illinois, 1986., p. 18, Table 1.1.









