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The British Journal of Psychiatry (1964) 110: 198-204. doi: 10.1192/bjp.110.465.198
© 1964 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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Recent Bereavement as a Cause of Mental Illness

C. MURRAY PARKES M.D., D.P.M.1

1 Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, London, W.1

1. Among 3,245 patients admitted to a psychiatric unit during 1949-51 there were at least 94 (2.9 per cent.) whose presenting illness had come on within six months of the death of a parent, spouse, sibling or child.

2. The number of patients whose illness followed the loss of a spouse was six times greater than expected and suggests that the bereavement was a causative factor in the development of the illness. The relationship between mental illness and the loss of other kin was not established.

3. Among the bereaved patients there was a preponderance of women over 40. Whilst the age distribution could be explained in terms of the population at risk the sex distribution could not; it seems that women are more inclined than men to develop mental illnesses following bereavement.

4. The incidence of affective disorders, and particularly reactive and neurotic depressions, was significantly greater among bereaved than non-bereaved patients. Nevertheless only 28 per cent. of bereaved patients were diagnosed "Neurotic or Reactive Depression" and further investigation is required to determine the specificity of the reaction to bereavement.




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