Researchers at the University of Aarhus (Denmark) call this “Talk therapy” and they show how crucial this dialogue with the general practitioner is after the death of a parent or loved one. A full-fledged “prevention” act of the risk of suicide and/or psychiatric disorders which is part of primary care missions, in the same way as the prescription of antidepressant treatments.
Losing a family member or loved one is psychologically extremely painful and generates the highest level of distress and stress. Painful enough to have suicidal thoughts or develop other psychiatric disorders. This broad analysis is conducted on data from 207,000 Danes, aged over 18 who lost a child, spouse, sibling or parent during the period 1996-2013. Among these participants, 4,584 patients (2.2%) were affected by an effect such as suicide, self-harm and admission to a psychiatric ward. Data analysis reveals the benefits of talk therapy:
- patients who benefit from it are less likely to develop TS and other psychological disorders
- in patients who received antidepressant treatment within 6 months of bereavement, 9.1% experienced severe effects of their bereavement, in patients who received talk therapy, this rate was reduced to 3.2;
- the overall risk of serious psychiatric disorders during the grieving process would be reduced by 1.7% if the patient receives talk therapy.
A result that will encourage general practitioners to reserve drug treatment for the most severely depressed patients? However, patients "deprived" of antidepressants could then incur an even higher risk? The researchers are nevertheless convinced, in view of their results, that an early "talk therapy" in response to these grieving patients can prevent, on its own, at least in some patients, the risk of severe psychiatric events.
Unfortunately, the study does not say whether general practitioners are sufficiently prepared and have, in practice, the availability in time for this intervention.
