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Insight: Apr 17

Next week Insight looks at dealing with Grief, and how it can be better managed.

Next week Insight tackles the important if rarely-discussed topic of Grief.

The utter devastation of grief is universal. But there’s now a push to define what’s normal when it comes to grief.

This week Insight looks at whether it’s possible to put a timeframe around grief, whether it can be managed, whether anti-depressants help, and whether some cultures are better than others when it comes to dealing with this powerful emotional state.

When working out whether a patient has a disorder, psychiatrists in Australia often refer to a lengthy document called the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), which contains criteria for mental illnesses. At the moment, grief reactions are not included as it is considered a normal human response to bereavement.

However, this is being hotly debated and potentially changed in the upcoming edition of the DSM, due out in 2013. There is a proposal for there to be a new psychiatric disorder for bereavement which would apply when acute grieving goes on for longer than 12 months.

As well as experts on both sides of the new proposal, Insight hears powerful personal stories of loss to find out how Australians of all backgrounds are managing their grief and what, if anything, is helping them get through.

Guests include:

Richard Bryant
Professor Richard Bryant wants a new psychiatric disorder for bereavement which would apply when acute grieving goes on for longer than 12 months. He believes around 10-15 per cent of people who suffer a loss would potentially be affected by this new diagnosis. Richard sits on committees for both the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual and the World Health Organisation’s International Classification of Diseases.

Gordon Parker
Professor Gordon Parker is critical of what he sees as the increasing medicalisation of normal human behaviour and is against any new diagnosis to do with grief. Gordon founded the Black Dog Institute and this year published his autobiography. Gordon is based at the School of Psychiatry at UNSW

Ali Halkic
Ali and his wife Dina still reserve a place at their dinner table for their son Allem, who committed suicide three years ago. They haven’t touched his bedroom since the day he died. Ali doesn’t think prolonged grief should be diagnosed as a psychiatric condition. He also refuses to take anti-depressants as he says he doesn’t want to “dilute” the emotion.

Julia Bianco
Julia Bianco lost her only child in January last year. Yasmina, 9, was hit by a train in Coledale, NSW. Although devastated, Julia and her husband Loris say they have made an effort to move on with their life and be positive for Yasmina. Julia requested anti-depressants within a month of the death and says they gave her the strength to cope.

Dean Saunders
Dean Saunders’ brother Richard Cyril Saunders was killed three years ago in a violent attack in Brisbane. Richard was the uncle of rugby league star Johnathan Thurston – and Dean feels that this link meant the family had unwanted public attention during their grieving time. The family gave Richard a traditional indigenous ceremony in outback Queensland, but Dean says he’s found it hard to move on because of the nature of his brother’s death.

Amanda Narvo
Amanda Narvo lost her mum, 80, to cancer in January. People tell Amanda she’s handling the death too well, but she explains that she started grieving four years ago when Maureen was first diagnosed. Amanda says she and her family made the last week with Maureen fun. Amanda’s daughter Georgia, 14, regularly watches the DVD of the funeral.

Tuesday at 8.30pm on SBS ONE.

One Response

  1. It is such a good program – Insight – thanks David for the advocacy of this program – i tend to forget about it, especially as it doesn’t run 45 weeks a year – but it manages to significantly treat such a diverse group of subjects over a season. Last week’s revisit of the teenagers since they were 13 and 16 was fascinating. This should be another top program.

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