Objectives: Diagnosing mental health challenges in bereavement is controversial; however, regardless of one's position on this matter, assessments of bereaved individuals continue to occur in clinical and research contexts. It is critical for evaluations to account for contextual factors that are unique to bereavement. This paper summarizes considerations for diagnosing depression in bereaved individuals, focusing on use of the six-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D6).
Methods: Following a literature review of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) and various versions, we summarized decision rules we used in scoring the HAM-D6 in a study of parents bereaved by cancer. We expanded on existing scoring guidelines for each of the HAM-D6 items, including depressed mood, work and activities, general somatic symptoms, guilt, psychic anxiety, and psychomotor retardation, and illustrated clinical distinctions and probes for assessors to consider through case examples from our research with bereaved parents.
Results: Considerations for assessing depressive symptoms and behavior changes in the context of bereavement were summarized. Symptoms that may be diagnostic of depression in some populations may reflect other factors in the bereaved, such as a change in priorities, social expectations surrounding grief, or avoidance of grief activators. Nuanced factors are important for assessors to consider when administering the HAM-D6 to bereaved individuals.
Significance of results: Our sharing of these considerations is not intended to promote diagnosis of depression in bereavement but to highlight the unique contextual factors that distinguish symptoms of depression from common experiences of grievers when applying an assessment tool such as the HAM-D6. While validated measures can be constraining, they can have clinical utility; they may increase standardization in research, help clinicians communicate with each other, advance the field more generally to understand the varying struggles bereaved individuals experience, and systemically facilitate access to services via managed care.
Keywords: Depression; Hamilton Depression Rating Scale; bereavement; diagnostic assessment; grief.