Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T12:19:12.611Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Making contact – bereavement and Asperger's syndrome

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Geoffrey M Marston  and
David Clarke
Geoffrey M Marston
Affiliation:
West Midlands Rotational Training Scheme, Brooklands, Coleshill Road, Marston Green, Birmingham B37 7HL, England
David Clarke
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Birmingham, Queen Elizabeth Psychiatric Hospital, Mindelson Way, Birmingham B15 2QZ, England
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A case of abnormal bereavement is described in a man with borderline learning disability and Asperger's syndrome. Bereavement issues and concurrent assessment of psychiatric illness in people with pervasive developmental disorders are discussed. Particular reference is made to relevant psychopathology and possible underlying psychodynamic mechanisms.

Keywords

Asperger's syndromeBereavementPsychopathology
Type
Case Reports
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , March 1999 , pp. 29 - 31
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.World Health Organisation (WHO). ICD-10 Classification of mental and behavioural disorders: clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines. Geneva: WHO, 1992.Google Scholar
2.American Psychiatric Association (APA). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 4th Ed. (DSM-IV). Washington DC: APA, 1994.Google Scholar
3.Baron-Cohen, . Mindblindness. An essay on autism and theory of mind. The MIT Press, 1993.Google Scholar
4.Wing, L. Asperger's syndrome: A clinical account. Psychol Med 1981; 11: 115–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Clarke, DJ, Littlejohns, CS, Corbett, JA, Joseph, S. Pervasive developmental disorders and psychoses in adult life. B J Psych 1989; 155: 692–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Gilberg, C. Asperger's syndrome and recurrent psychosis. A case study. J Autism Dev Dis 1985; 15: 389–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Szatmari, P, Bartolucci, O, Finlayson, Aet al.A vote for Asperger's syndrome. J Autism Dev Dis 1986; 16: 515–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.Clarke, DJet al.Psychosis in people with pervasive developmental disorder. Private Communication, 1997.Google Scholar
9.Wolf, S, Chick, J. Schizoid personality in childhood: A controlled follow-up study. Psychol Med 1980; 10: 85–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Oswin, M. Am I allowed to cry?A study of bereavement amongst people who have learning difficulties. London: Human Horizons, 1991.Google Scholar
11.Kloeppel, DA, Hollins, S. Double handicap: mental handicap and death in the family. Death studies 1989; 13: 31–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12.McLoughlin, IJ. Care of the dying. Bereavement in the mentally handicapped. Br J Hosp Med 1986; 36: 256–60.Google Scholar
13.Hollins, S, Esterhuyzen, A. Bereavement and grief in adults with learning disabilities. Br J Psychiatry 1997; 170: 497–501.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14.Hobson, RP. On psychoanalytic approaches to autism. Am Med J Orthopsychiat 1990; 324–36.Google Scholar
15.Sigman, M, Mundy, P, Sherman, T, Ungerer, J. Social interactions of autistic, mentally retarded, and normal children and their caregivers. J Child Psychol Psychiat 1986; 27: 647–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.Bowlby, J. Attachment. Attachment and loss, vol 1. London: Hogarth, 1969. Separation: anxiety and anger. Attachment and loss, vol 2. London: Hogarth, 1973. Loss: sadness and depression. Attachment and loss, vol 3. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1980.Google Scholar
17.Wing, L, Gould, J. Severe impairments of social interactions and associated abnormalities in children: epidemiology and classification. J Autism Dev Dis 1979; 9: 11–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18.Hobson, RP. Autism and the development of mind. Hove: Lawrence Eribaum Associates, 1993.Google Scholar
19.Powell, SD, Matthews, E, Morgan, SH. Flexibility in thinking and behaviour. Distance adult education course in autism (unit 4, module 1). Birmingham: University of Birmingham, School of Education, 1994.Google Scholar
20.Kitching, N. Helping people with mental handicaps cope with bereavement: a case study with discussion. Mental Handicap 1987; 15: 60–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21.Worden, JW. Grief counselling and grief therapy. London: Tavistock/Routledge, 1983.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22.Hopper, E. Encapsulation as a defence against the fear of annihilation. Int J Psychoanalysis 1991; 72/4: 607–24.Google Scholar
23.Morgan, H. Adults with autism. A guide to theory and practice. University Press, 1996.Google Scholar
24.Allison, H. The management of bereavement in services for people with autism. London: National Autistic Society, 1993.Google Scholar