title: The grieving spouse.
abstract: Loss of a spouse presents serious risks to the psychological and physical health and well-being of the survivor. This is particularly true for women. Physical disease, hospitalization, and mortality in widows all exceed expected rates. The author reviews the phases of mourning, the factors related to pathological grief, and the ways in which grief is resolved. He describes widow-to-widow care systems, which seem to have substantial merit. Pastoral counseling and in some cases psychiatric care and medication can be helpful, but time is the greatest healer of all.
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D003376:Counseling; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005260:Female; D006117:Grief; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007063:Identity Crisis; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage; D009026:Mortality; D010327:Pastoral Care; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D012657:Self-Help Groups; D012737:Sex Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological