Anonymous asked:
For a quick question, Can grief of losing a loved one become similar to depression but not quite? Since i'm writing up about a character going through grief, and just wanted to make sure i'm doing this right
CW: suicidal ideation, death
Yes, bereavement (the fancy psych term for suffering a big loss) is actually something explicitly mentioned in the DSM-5 as something that has to be considered before diagnosing someone with depression. They share a lot of features, but they are in fact different things.
Generally, the differences are:
Bereavement / Grief:
- Feelings of emptiness and loss
- It comes and goes in waves (”pangs”)
- It decreases over time (usually beginning to show improvement within a span of days to weeks)
- Worse when reminded of or thinking about the deceased
- Mostly normal self-esteem
- Feelings of guilt are related to the deceased (ie “I should have visited more”, “I should have told her I loved her”, etc.)
- Still able to feel pleasure
- If suicidal, the focus is on joining the deceased
Major Depression:
- Feeling badly / depressed in general
- It’s much more constant and is a lot slower to improve
- Feeling worthless / self-loathing
- Depressed feelings are pervasive
- Great difficulty with / rarely feeling pleasure
- If suicidal, the focus tends to be on escaping life / ending pain
Of course, not everyone experiences depression or grief in these ways, but this is an overview / generalization.