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PTSD Co-Existing with Bereavement — SCE Palliative Medicine MCQ

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HardBereavementPTSD Co-Existing with BereavementSCE Palliative Medicine

A 60-year‑old man whose wife died from cancer 8 months ago finds that he cannot stop thinking about the moment she died. He has vivid intrusive memories of her final gasping breaths and avoids the bedroom where she died. What diagnosis should be considered alongside grief?

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Correct answer: A — Post‑traumatic stress disorder from witnessing a traumatic death

This man manifests the core triad of PTSD—intrusive re‑experiencing (vivid memories of his wife’s final breaths), avoidance (avoiding the bedroom) and likely hyperarousal—all connected to witnessing a traumatic death. NICE guidance explicitly recognises witnessing or experiencing a death as qualifying trauma, and these symptoms persisting at 8 months indicate co‑morbid PTSD rather than uncomplicated grief alone. Brief psychotic disorder lacks psychotic features; OCD involves egodystonic obsessions and compulsions, not trauma‑driven memories and avoidance; and “prolonged grief disorder only” ignores the specific PTSD symptomatology.

Reference: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/conditions-and-diseases/cancer/palliative-care