Can medication treat grief and bereavement?

[Ivan Seeking]

We seem to be gaining ground on depression [though I think we have a long way to go] but what about mental anguish caused by mourning? Has anyone ever suggested that a pill or some other organic treatment could eliminate mental anguish caused by tragedies such as the tsunami, the loss of loved ones, etc? I assume that there is a biological mechanism to mourning that could be interrupted. What is the difference between mental anguish in this sense, and clinical severe depression?

 

[Moonbear]

I guess the real difference is that there is a known cause to the depression, and it's temporary. I've wondered about this idea myself. Is there an adaptive function to mourning? If we gave someone an antidepressant to get through the period of mourning, would it hinder their long-term recovery, or help, or just delay their reaction? Why is it that some people become almost completely incapacitated after the loss of a loved one and others can just pick themselves up by the bootstraps and stoically continue onward?