Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0011570 (depression)
 172,036 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Losses are an integral part of chronic illness and disability. The term chronic sorrow, has been used to describe the long-term periodic sadness the chronically ill and their caregivers experience in reaction to continual losses. In this conceptual analysis of chronic sorrow, identified critical attributes are: cyclic sadness over time in a situation with no predictable end; external and internal stimuli triggering the feelings of loss, disappointment, and fear; and, progression and intensification of the sadness or sorrow years after the initial disappointment or loss. Model, borderline, related, contrary, and illegitimate cases illustrate what the concept is and what it is not. The meaning of chronic sorrow is compared to the meaning of unresolvable grief and depression. Chronic sorrow in various stages of life is illustrated in descriptions of: the situation and feelings of parents of handicapped children; multiple sclerosis patients in the middle, productive years; and elderly caregivers of spouses with dementia. Implications for research include the need to study the concept in various populations to determine its prevalence and operation. Through research, the meaning of the concept can be further clarified. This is a beginning step toward developing nursing theory that will give direction for providing care to persons encountering sadness over long periods of time.
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PMID:Chronic sorrow: a lifespan concept. 158 85

Chronic sorrow has been described in the caregivers of individuals with myelomeningocele, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, cancer, and premature infants. Most studies have reported small numbers of fathers for comparison with mothers. One unpublished study compared chronic sorrow and depression. The purpose of the current study was to describe parental chronic sorrow following the birth of a child with neural tube defect and to explore the relationship between chronic sorrow and depression. One hundred and thirty-two parents (63 mother/father pairs and 6 single parents) responded to 3 measures of chronic sorrow and 1 measure of depression. Multivariate analysis of variance demonstrated significant differences between mothers and fathers in chronic sorrow. In addition, a relationship between chronic sorrow and depression was demonstrated. Chronic sorrow is a potential barrier to parental understanding of their child's care and diagnosis. Based on these findings, separate assessments of each parent and timely interventions are warranted. Further research should include more than 1 measure of chronic sorrow and delineate the dimensions being measured.
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PMID:Chronic sorrow and depression in parents of children with neural tube defects. 1511 62

Chronic sorrow is defined as a normal grief response associated with an ongoing living loss that is permanent, progressive, recurring, and cyclic in nature. If a parent experiencing chronic sorrow has a support system that is inadequate or does not receive appropriate intervention for ineffective coping, it is possible that chronic sorrow can become a pathological grief state similar to depression. Nurses must recognize that chronic sorrow is a normal grief response associated with a living loss, learn to appropriately assess chronic sorrow in parents of chronically ill children, and develop ways to support parents experiencing chronic sorrow by applying evidence-based strategies to facilitate effective coping.
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PMID:An evidence-based approach for supporting parents experiencing chronic sorrow. 1947 75