"Man to Man" Grief Room Blog Spot

When Does Grief Become Depression? Is there a point at which grief morphs into clinical depression? Published on March 21, 2012 by Joseph Nowinski, Ph.D. in The New Grief 2 in Share Last week, NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” aired a show that explored the line between grief and depression . Although they are quite different, they look surprisingly alike. Panelist Dr. Michael Miller, editor of the  Harvard Mental Health Letter  and assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, said that with both grief and depression “People cry. They feel depressed. They’re having trouble sleeping . They may not have an appetite . They may not feel like doing anything. They may not take pleasure in anything.” Related Articles DSM-5 Controver...

Depending when you are coming upon this blog, I thought I should introduce an article on Anticipatory Grief .... Looking back on my own experience of caring for my late wife and working with hospice families I see anticipatory grief as hard work. If you are not too exhausted from the drain of emotions and the hands on care giving, the time after the terminal diagnosis and before the passing of your loved one can be a time of reflection and even an opportunity to gain new insights into your dying loved one and yourself.  I feel like it is a last chance to tell your dying loved the things that you may not have ever got around to saying to him or her.  I told myself and tell my hospice families not to be left with regrets.  As you are caring for your lived one look for "windows of opportunity" to speak with your loved one while they are still alert.  Remember even when they are non-responsive they can still hear you, because as you may have heard, "the hearing is the...

"THERE is an (Grief) ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM " There’s an elephant in the room. It is large and squatting, so it is hard to get around it. Yet we squeeze by with, “How are you?” and, “I’m fine,” and a thousand other forms of trivial chatter. We talk about the weather; we talk about work; we talk about everything else— except the elephant in the room. There’s an elephant in the room. We all know it is there. We are thinking about the elephant as we talk together. It is constantly on our minds. For, you see, it is a very big elephant. It has hurt us all, but we do not talk about the elephant in the room. Oh, please, say her name. Oh, please, say “Barbara” again. Oh, please, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. For if we talk about her death, perhaps we can talk about her life. Can I say, “Barbara” to you and not have you look away? For if I cannot, then you are leaving me alone in a room—with an elephant. --- Terry Kettering The first...