Research project Trauerbewältigung by E-Mail

University project in Leipzig: Trauerbewältigung by e-mail

01/12/2014

That people mourn when they have lost a close person is natural. Some can not get out of their grief but without help. For this, mostly therapists are visited. A new research project at the University of Leipzig will soon be offering psychotherapy for mourners by e-mail.

Research project at Leipzig University
Grief after the loss of a loved one is natural. However, some people no longer come out of their Valley of Grief alone and seek help. Experts advise you to see a therapist if you still grieve after half a year, because being too long in grief can be pathological. At the University of Leipzig, new paths are being taken. As the news agency dpa reports, there is psychotherapy by email for mourners a new research project.

Project starts next spring
It is actually about people who have lost relatives through suicide. The study is scheduled to run for two years and is supported by the Roland Ernst Foundation. It is expected to start in spring 2015. „We expect to be able to treat about 60 patients during this time“, said the director of the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Prof. Anette Kersting, to dpa. Within a five-week program, patients are given specific typing tasks that are sent to a protected Internet platform as e-mails and answered by psychotherapists.

Not all mourners are eligible for the therapy
In advance, there is a comprehensive diagnostics. Those mourners who are suicidal, have depression, or are addicted to addiction are out of the question for this particular therapy. Prof. Kersting and her team have already gained experience with Internet-based therapy, for example helping women who have lost their child during pregnancy. The psychosomatist said that people came in very different ways. Many would be sent by colleagues and some would have become aware of the Internet therapy projects and have made the contact.

Therapist help with too long grief
The scientist showed in an epidemiological study that 6.7 percent of the German population, who have experienced a loss, develop a pathological grief. Are mourners after six months still imprisoned in the mourning process, long for the deceased, feel their lives as meaningless and meaningless and can not find their way back into their current life, then a therapy for bereavement management needed. According to Prof. Kersting, such people need special offers. This has been studied in studies. „Antidepressants do not work on mourners unless they additionally suffer from depression“, so Kersting.

Grief can have a negative impact on your health
In recent years researchers have found in various studies that grief can have numerous health consequences. For example, US scientists at Harvard University concluded in a study that severe heartache also increases the risk of heart attack. According to the information, this has to do with the often caused by a bereavement hypertension, the associated stress as well as a possibly stronger blood coagulation. In addition, mourners would often suffer from lack of sleep and eating disorders. (Ad)