Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T08:05:10.233Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Bereavement Dream? Successful antidepressant treatment for bereavement-related distressing dreams in patients with major depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2010

Mayumi Ishida ,
Hideki Onishi ,
Mei Wada ,
Tomomi Wada ,
Makoto Wada ,
Yosuke Uchitomi  and
Shinobu Nomura
Mayumi Ishida*
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Human Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa City, Saitama, Japan
Hideki Onishi
Affiliation:
Department of Psycho-Oncology, Saitama Medical University International Medical Center, Saitama, Japan
Mei Wada
Affiliation:
Department of Psycho-Oncology, Saitama Medical University International Medical Center, Saitama, Japan
Tomomi Wada
Affiliation:
Department of Psycho-Oncology, Saitama Medical University International Medical Center, Saitama, Japan
Makoto Wada
Affiliation:
Department of Psycho-Oncology, Saitama Medical University International Medical Center, Saitama, Japan
Yosuke Uchitomi
Affiliation:
Psycho-Oncology Division, National Cancer Center Research Institute East, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan
Shinobu Nomura
Affiliation:
Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University, Waseda, Japan
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Mayumi Ishida, C.P., Graduate School of Human Sciences, Waseda University, 2-579-15 Mikajima, Tokorozawa City, Saitama 359-1192, Japan. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective:

The death of a person is a stressful event. Such stress affects the physical and psychological well-being of the bereaved. As an associated mental disorder, major depressive disorder (MDD) is common. Some dream of the deceased, and these dreams are called bereavement dreams. Some MDD patients also experience dreams. These two types of dreams are sometimes difficult to differentiate. The dream of the bereaved might be only a bereavement-related dream, yet it might be a symptom of MDD. Herein, we report one patient who had distressing dreams after the death of her mother.

Methods:

A 63-year-old woman was referred for psychiatric consultation because of generalized fatigue and insomnia. Questioning her about recent events, she said that her mother had died of colonic carcinoma 5 months previously. Two months after the death, she suddenly started dreaming of her mother, getting angry with her almost every night. Generalized fatigue, insomnia, and distressing dreams appeared simultaneously. The dream caused much distress, making her afraid to fall asleep.

Results:

Her psychiatric features fulfilled the DSM-IV-TR criteria for MDD, single episode. The death of her mother was considered to be one of the causes of MDD. She was administered 25 mg/day of sertraline hydrochloride. After that, her symptoms gradually disappeared, and the frequency of distressing dreams was reduced. Five months later, physical and psychiatric symptoms of MDD were completely resolved. Subsequently, she has not suffered from any distressing dreams of her mother.

Significance of results:

This case indicates that dreams experienced after the death of a loved one should not be regarded simply as bereavement dreams. Some of the dreams may be symptoms of MDD. If the dreams are the symptoms of MDD, antidepressant treatment as well as psychotherapy may be useful. Therefore, we should avoid regarding symptoms of MDD as reactions to bereavement.

Keywords

BereavementDepressionDifferential diagnosisDreamAntidepressant
Type
Case Report
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , March 2010 , pp. 95 - 98
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.Google Scholar
Besiroglu, L., Agargun, M.Y., & Inci, R. (2005). Nightmares and terminal insomnia in depressed patients with and without melancholic features. Psychiatry Research, 133, 285–287.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bonanno, G.A., Wortman, C.B., Lehman, D.R., et al. (2002). Resilience to loss and chronic grief: A prospective study from preloss to 18-months postloss. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 1150–1164.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Erlangsen, A., Jeune, B., Bille-Brahe, U., et al. (2004). Loss of partner and suicide risks among oldest old: A population-based register study. Age and Ageing, 33, 378–383.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Freud, S. (1935). A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis. New York: Liveright.Google Scholar
Hadfield, J.H. (1954). Dreams and Nightmares. London: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Holmes, T.H. & Rahe, R.H. (1967). The Social Readjustment Rating Scale. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11, 213–218.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaprio, J., Koskenvuo, M., & Rita, H. (1987). Mortality after bereavement: A prospective study of 95,647 widowed persons. American Journal of Public Health, 77, 283–287.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kirschner, N.T. (1999). Medication and dreams: Changes in dreams content after drug treatment. Dreaming, 9, 195–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, G. (1995). The interaction effect of bereavement and sex on the risk of suicide in the elderly: An historical cohort study. Social Science & Medicine, 40, 825–828.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lichtenstein, P., Gatz, M., & Berg, S. (1998). A twin study of mortality after spousal bereavement. Psychological Medicine, 28, 635–643.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maciejewski, P.K., Zhang, B., Block, S.D., et al. (2007). An empirical examination of the stage theory of grief. JAMA, 297, 716–723.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manor, O. & Eisenbach, Z. (2003). Mortality after spousal loss: Are there socio-demographic differences? Social Science & Medicine, 56, 405–413.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nejad, A.G., Sanatinia, R.Z., & Yousofi, K. (2004). Dream contents in patients with major depressive disorder. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 49, 864–865.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parkes, C.M. (1972). Bereavement: Studies of Grief in Adult Life. New York: International Universities Press.Google Scholar
Parkes, C.M., Benjamin, B., & Fitzgerald, R.G. (1969). Broken heart: A statistical study of increased mortality among widowers. British Medical Journal, 22, 740–743.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piper, W.E., Ogrodniczuk, J.S., Azim, H.F., et al. (2001). Prevalence of loss and complicated grief among psychiatric outpatients. Psychiatric Services, 52, 1069–1074.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prigerson, H.G., Bierhals, A.J., Kasl, S.V., et al. (1997). Traumatic grief as a risk factor for mental and physical morbidity. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 616–623.Google ScholarPubMed
Reynolds, C.F. 3rd., Miller, M.D., Pasternak, R.E., et al. (1999). Treatment of bereavement-related major depressive episodes in later life: A controlled study of acute and continuation treatment with nortriptyline and interpersonal psychotherapy. American Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 202–208.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Waller, W. (1951). The Family: A Dynamic Interpretation. New York: Dryden Press.Google Scholar
Zisook, S. & Shuchter, S.R. (1991). Depression through the first year after the death of a spouse. American Journal of Psychiatry, 148, 1346–1352.Google ScholarPubMed