Recent Stories
Dear Dr. Neimeyer, I lost my son five years ago to a drug overdose. l battled with him for several years trying to break his addiction. He died right before his 28 birthday. I feel like I lost everything when I lost him. He was my baby. I have three other children and numerous grandchildren, but the kids say I’m […]
Continue ReadingI lost my young wife after twenty years of marriage. Since then I feel like I’ve moved on; I found a new wife whom I love completely. We’ve raised terrific children. My problem is that I have an irrational fear of loss. At least once a day I obsess about losing my new wife, our […]
Continue ReadingDear Dr. Neimeyer, My daughter was murdered by the father of her children. Her children at the time were a toddler and an infant. It’s now seven years later. My daughter was just 21 years old. I had to get my granddaughter’s things out of the apartment she was murdered in, so it was very […]
Continue ReadingDear Dr. Neimeyer, My daughter was murdered a year ago. She was upset with me before it happened. I saw her the morning it happened, and we only waved at each other. Later, I saw her body lying on the floor in her house and I can’t get that image out of my head. I […]
Continue ReadingEditor’s Note: Loss of Financial Security is a repost we thought would be very relevant in these troubled times. Dear Dr. Neimeyer, My husband died two years ago. I also lost my home of more than a quarter century. and had to file for bankruptcy due to his passing. I have no idea how to get over […]
Continue ReadingDear Dr. Neimeyer, Is the best and probably only way to get through complicated grief through the use of antidepressants? Thanks. Demi Dear Demi, Both clinical experience and clinical research suggest that antidepressant medication is a mixed blessing in the context of bereavement, for several reasons. In fact, for many years psychiatrists agreed that […]
Continue ReadingDear Dr. Neimeyer, My husband passed away suddenly and unexpectedly over two years ago. I am in a lot of emotional pain, but that’s not why I am writing. Three decades ago my husband’s daughter accused him of molesting her; this recollection had come to her, she said, during a course of psychotherapy. He said […]
Continue ReadingDear Dr. Neimeyer, My question is regarding my mother. We lost my father very unexpectedly this past summer, and she is having a very hard time with his loss, as we all are. My question is this: Is it good for her to have her bedroom looking like a shrine to him, so that whenever […]
Continue ReadingDear Dr. Neimeyer, Thirteen years ago I experienced a seizure while driving. My mother was killed in the accident. I had an extremely close relationship with my mother. I continue to feel guilty and struggle to make sense of this tragedy. Phil Dear Phil, Your tragic story, summarized vividly in so few words, conveys the catastrophic […]
Continue ReadingDear Dr. Neimeyer, My 23 year old daughter lost her husband two years ago. He was a soldier and her high school sweetheart. He was killed in a car accident on a military base. She is so lost and devastated. She feels like she has lost her identity and has questioned everything in life now. […]
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