people who experience ptsd after surviving a traumatic event that claimed the life of a loved one may be more likely to suffer from a sense of persistent sadness and an inability to cope years later, according to a new study.
while the sensation of sorrow that follows loss typically fades with time, research,
published in the journal psychological trauma: theory, research, practice and policy
, found the symptoms of this more complicated grief can intensify over time and even prevent survivors from leading normal lives.
“grief is a normal response to the loss of someone close, but traumatic losses may severely harm survivors for years,”
said kristin alve glad
, lead author of the study and a researcher at the norwegian centre for violence and traumatic stress studies.
“our findings suggest that when treating trauma survivors, targeting symptoms of ptsd early might help them avoid complicated grief later on. complicated grief has been defined as a persistent, intense yearning, longing and sadness, usually accompanied by insistent thoughts or images of the deceased and a sense of disbelief or an inability to accept the painful reality of the person’s death.”
the study focused on survivors from the 2011 terror attack that
killed a total of 77 people in oslo, norway, and on the nearby island of utøya
. the combined bombing and shooting spree was the deadliest attack in the country since the second world war. of the 275 people interviewed by researchers, 256 lost a close friend, six lost a family member and 13 lost a close friend and family member/partner.