Nighat Haider, Iffat Batool.
Rate of Psychopathology in the First Degree Relatives of the Deceased during Bereavement Period.
J Pak Psych Soc Jan ;12(1):18-20.

Objective: To measure the rate of psychopathology in the first degree relatives of the deceased within the period of bereavement. Design: Cross sectional exploratory study Place and duration of the study: The study was carried out in five cities of Pakistan from June 2011 to May 2013 Subjects and Methods: A purposive convenient sample of 290 participant was drawn from different government colleges, public and private sector universities, public hospitals, and members of general society. Inclusion criterion restricts the participants to be selected irrespective of gender, aged at least 16 and having experienced the death of a first-degree relative in the past one year. Exclusion criterion is defined as the presence of any already existing psychiatric disorder before the death of the deceased relative. Results: Majority of the participants were female, married, and were living in rural residences. Split up of participants as per categories of age range and education level were almost equal. 74.8 percent of the participants reported considerable levels of psychopathology in the bereavement period. Conclusion: The instance of psychopathology is quite high among the first degree relatives during the period of bereavement so the general public, health care providers and mental health professionals should be sensitized to pick up the early signs of psychiatric disorders in the bereaved population to avoid the complications and burden of full blown disorder so that it may save the bereaved families from the disadvantages additional to the bereavement and its loss.

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