The Occurrence of Funeral Mania After Bereavement: A Case Report

Abstract

Stressful or traumatic life events can lead to emergence of mood episodes. Events such as migration, relocation, job loss, bankruptcy, economic loss, divorce, natural disasters, accidental injury, or the loss of a loved one can trigger the first episode of bipolar disorder. After such life events, symptoms of depressive episodes often appear. Funeral mania, on the other hand, is defined as the emergence of manic episodes following the death of a close family member. Information on funeral mania, which occurs shortly after the loss of a loved one, is limited with a few case reports. In this study, a 26-year-old female patient who presented with the symptoms of a manic episode for the first time after her father’s death and who had no previous psychiatric disease or treatment history was presented in the light of findings in the literature. It is noteworthy that the patient, who was followed up with the diagnosis of bipolar disorder (mania period) according to DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, had a temporal closeness between her mood symptoms and her father’s death, and had not developed such a reaction to previous traumatic life events. Therefore, the diagnosis was evaluated as funeral mania. It should be kept in mind that, although rare, symptoms of mania can be seen among possible grief reactions