A patient tells the mental health nurse that he is unable to get his life back together since the death of his spouse two years ago and that he feels the loss as strongly as he did the day his spouse died. What does the nurse suspect the patient is experiencing?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

3. Complicated grief may be suspected when the intensity of suffering does not diminish over time, the patient does not resume previous roles, or the grief seems out of proportion to the loss. With delayed grief, the individual seems to feel no grief for a period of weeks, months, or even years. In anticipatory grief, an individual expects the loss before it occurs. Disenfranchised grief occurs when individuals hide grief following a loss to which some sort of stigma is, or may be, attached.

A Patient Tells the Mental Health Nurse That He Is