The mortality of bereavement: A review

Increasingly in recent years researchers have focused on positive aspects of the experience of bereavement, emphasizing that it is a "growth experience," that people are "resilient," and that the illness metaphor should be abandoned in describing the consequences of grief. The chapters in this volume by Silverman and Worden, McCrae and Costa, and Shuchter and Zisook, to name only a few, underline this message. Yet the reason that so much research has focused on bereavement is because the loss of a loved one is associated with extreme mental and physical suffering, not for everyone, and not always lastingly, but for a significant minority. Even more disturbing are the statistics for mortality. Not only do some bereaved individuals fall ill following the loss of a loved one, but they also die.