About sudden death – Sudden

This page provides a brief introduction to sudden deaths and the devastation they cause to people’s lives. If you have been suddenly bereaved by any cause, including by COVID-19 (coronavirus) you can also read our help for bereaved adults pages. If children have been bereaved you can read our information on caring for bereaved children. If you are caring for, or providing support for, a suddenly bereaved person you can learn more about sudden death by reading our help for friends and communities pages. If you are a professional providing support to a suddenly bereaved person, you can find information and resources to help your work here.

A sudden death is an unexpected death

A sudden death is any kind of death that happens unexpectedly. This includes:

• suicide
• road crash or other transport disaster
• drowning, falling, fire or other tragedy
• undiagnosed advanced terminal illness, such as advanced cancer
• sudden natural causes, such as heart attack, brain haemorrhage, or cot death
• sudden death from a communicable disease such as COVID-19
• sudden death from a serious illness that was known about, but where death wasn’t expected, for example epilepsy
• murder
• war or terrorism

A sudden death is an unanticipated death

While sudden deaths have very different causes, what unites them all is that they are unexpected and consequently unanticipated. The people bereaved by these deaths have no time to prepare for their loss, or say goodbye. Their bereavement consequently comes as a shock; a bolt from the blue.

A sudden death rips apart people’s lives

By their very definition, sudden deaths are more likely to occur among children, young people, and healthy mid-life adults. Therefore, sudden deaths often mean people’s lives are ripped apart by the death of somebody very significant, close and central to their life, such as a life partner, father, son, brother, mother, daughter or sister.

People bereaved by sudden death often suffer severely

Everyone is different, and grief is a very individual experience. How people respond to a loved one dying suddenly may depend on many factors unique to them, including their personalities, what has happened in their life previously, and their personal situation now.

However, it is clear that people bereaved suddenly often suffer very much. They often have acute and lengthy support needs.

Suddenly bereaved children, as well as suddenly bereaved adults, share these needs. Often the needs of bereaved children are the same as those of bereaved adults.

Challenging grief

Many people bereaved suddenly are often described as suffering from ‘complicated grief’ or ‘traumatic grief’. Rather than going through a smooth process of initial sadness and then coming to terms with the death and moving forwards happily, people bereaved suddenly may have a range of powerful reactions to their bereavement, resulting from the shock of their bereavement and the devastation it has caused to their lives. These reactions may be different at different times and over a long time.

Some of these reactions may be frightening and mentally or physically painful and debilitating, affecting people’s ability to live their lives constructively in many ways.

Massively changed lives

As well as having to cope with the traumatic nature of their bereavement and its effect on them, suddenly bereaved people often have their day to day lives irrevocably altered, due to, for example, the death of a life partner who provided financial support, or the death a child who required daily care.

As well as working to recover emotionally, suddenly bereaved people often have to rebuild their lives and make a new plan for the future, as the plan they had before the death has been destroyed. It can be extremely hard to plan a new direction in life when suffering the after-shocks of a sudden death.

In addition, suddenly bereaved people may suffer their bereavement at a time when they are already dealing with a major life challenge; for example domestic abuse, job loss, marriage break up, another bereavement, or some other calamity.

Support and recovery

It is possible to recover following a sudden bereavement and lead a full and happy life again. However, people bereaved suddenly often need sensitive and significant support to help them recover fully, and as soon as possible.

Support should be tailored to the particular needs of the individual, after careful identification of these needs. It may be provided by more than one person or agency responding to these identified needs.

Support may be appropriate, depending on the individual’s circumstance and needs, from relatives and friends, professionals specialising in providing therapy for complex grief and / or post-traumatic stress disorder, government agencies such as housing agencies, and community, health and spiritual leaders.

There are often also charities specifically offering support to specific types of suddenly bereaved people, for example charities specialising in caring for victims of road crashes, murder, suicide, cot death, or war. These charities offer a variety of services including, often, contact with people bereaved in the same way. However, people suddenly bereaved by other causes, such as at-work accidents or cardiac arrest, may not have charity services specifically aimed at supporting them.

More information about appropriate support can be found in the Help for bereaved adults, Help for friends and communities, and Help for professionals sections of this site.

How to Help Someone With Grief After a Sudden Death

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Here’s how to offer support to someone grieving after an unexpected death.

Credit…Jo Zixuan

By Julie Halpert

Published Jan. 7, 2022Updated June 22, 2023

Listen to This Article

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Over the past several years, the husbands of three of my friends died suddenly at the age of 50. These experiences helped educate me on how to be supportive in the face of an unexpected loss. I couldn’t imagine that I would ever be on the receiving end of such support. But that happened when I lost my son, Garrett, to suicide in September 2017.

Since Garrett’s passing, I have been amazed at the generosity of my community. One friend paid to have my home’s gutters cleaned and windows washed. Our family’s veterinarian refused to let us pay for her pet care services for a year. Another friend gave us keys to her lake house to use when we needed to get away. Each spring, we find a hanging plant on our porch from parents of a friend of Garrett’s. As brutally hard as it’s been to walk this new path without my son, these actions have provided a glimmer of positivity amid my despair.

While people have stepped up to help after our loss, such generosity is not always a given in the wake of a sudden death — an outcome that many families are experiencing with the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 800,000 people in the United States alone.

“Many bereaved people experience another secondary loss when friends and family run away after a loss due to their own discomfort,” said Sherry Cormier, a psychologist and certified bereavement trauma specialist. Being present with a friend’s grief in this situation can stir up anxiety about death, she said. “They think, ‘That could happen to me.’”

Unlike a death that occurs in an older person after a long illness, with a sudden loss, “your world is turned completely and totally upside down; you’re in complete chaos,” said Camille Wortman, a professor of social and health psychology at Stony Brook University and author of “Treating Traumatic Bereavement: A Practitioner’s Guide. ”

Outside of the loss itself, one of the most painful experiences for grievers is that their friends and family may not be willing to help them through their grief, Dr. Cormier said. Rather than turning away, you can offer connection. Here are some ways to help a person who has recently experienced a loss.

With a sudden loss, the bereaved find themselves immediately inundated with new and mounting responsibilities. Helping ease that burden can be invaluable. Dr. Cormier suggested leading with language like: “I’d love to help. Does anything occur to you that may be useful?” If they don’t provide suggestions, you can be specific: Ask if you can bring dinner, mow the lawn or pick up groceries. You can also provide a welcome distraction, offering to go for a walk with the bereaved or take them out to dinner.

Jerri Vance, who lives in Princeton, W.Va., lost her husband, James, a 52-year-old police officer, to Covid-19 on New Year’s Day of 2021. “He went into the hospital on Dec. 7th and I never saw him again,” she said.

Immediately following her husband’s death, people in her community threw a fund-raiser for medical bills and funeral costs that raised $29,000. Friends and neighbors provided meals for a month and a half. Other friends helped her take down Christmas decorations. The principal of the school where she teaches third grade even showed up to clean her kitchen.

Ms. Vance said she appreciated all the prayers after her husband’s death, but she was most buoyed by those who offered to lighten her load.

A study released in August by the American Psychological Association found that the loss of a loved one in a traumatic event can cause complicated reactions for those left behind, including prolonged grief. Other studies have found that people who have endured a traumatic loss are more likely to experience severe, intense and persistent psychological reactions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, compared with those who have had an expected loss, according to Kristin Alve Glad, a clinical psychologist and the lead author of the A. P.A. study. In these situations, Dr. Wortman said, the bereaved can struggle for many years or decades.

“Time does not heal all wounds,” Ms. Vance said. “There are times when I feel forgotten. Everybody goes back to their normal lives, and, for us, there’s never going to be a normal life again.”

Dr. Wortman suggested checking in periodically and reaching out during times when those who are grieving may be particularly vulnerable, like a wedding anniversary or major holidays. She has compiled a list of helpful websites and articles that focus on offering support in these situations.

Consider adding simple “thinking of you” messages to your to-do list. Lisa Zaleski, who lives in White Lake, Mich., confronted the unimaginable, first losing her daughter, Sydney, in June 2017 at the age of 23 in a car accident, then her son Robert in December 2019 to suicide when he was 31 years old. After her daughter died, a friend she wasn’t especially close with sent her a text of acknowledgment every day for a year. “It felt like a tremendous amount of support,” she said.

Nneka Njideka, a licensed clinical social worker in Brooklyn, N.Y., who specializes in grief, explained that those with more resources have “grief privilege.” They may be able to take an extended leave of absence from work and afford a team of professionals to cope with the loss, for example. But she said that isn’t the case for those who are low on resources — and people of color in particular — who, in addition to losing their loved one, may be faced with “living losses,” like unemployment or food insecurity.

Calandrian Simpson Kemp, who is Black and lives in Houston, was working the night shift at a homeless shelter for women in 2013 when she got the call that her only son, George Kemp Jr., had been shot dead at 20 years old. “Everything you envisioned for them has been stolen from you,” she said. It was too much to bear for her husband. When she broke the news to him, “he dropped his keys and never went back to work,” she said. The family, which includes her daughter and stepdaughter, became uninsured as a result. She couldn’t afford mental health care and at one point needed to use a food pantry.

“I felt that bullet was still killing my husband and I, because we lost everything that we had,” she said.

Ms. Njideka said in these types of situations, it’s important to help the bereaved network with the community and build a circle of supportive resources, perhaps to raise funds for bills and therapy. Ms. Simpson Kemp started a program, The Village of Mothers, to assist mothers who lost their children in finding the services they need.

It’s helpful to just sit with those who are grieving and let them cry, Dr. Cormier said. Allow them to tell you the story of their loss and don’t try to problem solve or give advice. After Ms. Simpson Kemp’s son was killed, a woman from her church offered to drive her to the cemetery and simply sat with her there.

“She would just wait in the back and allow me to be still and silent in that space with George,” Ms. Simpson Kemp said. She “showed me it was OK to slow down and put the pieces together to help make sense of what had just happened.”

Try to be mindful to avoid minimizing the loss or encouraging a quick recovery, said Roxane Cohen Silver, a professor of psychological science, public health and medicine at the University of California, Irvine. She has developed a list of “don’ts” in the event of a loss, based on her research with hundreds of bereaved people. Never suggest that you know how grievers feel, even if you’ve experienced a similar type of loss; you can’t possibly comprehend the depth of their grief, she said.

Other phrases to avoid, according to Dr. Wortman: “You’re so strong,” “You have so much to be thankful for” and “Everything will be OK,” along with religious platitudes like, “It’s part of God’s plan” or “He’s in a better place.”

Ms. Vance said it’s best not to make empty promises. Some of her friends promised her children pedicures and an outing to get ice cream, yet no one followed through. Her kids were hurt. “When you promise something, you’ve got to follow up with it,” she said.

In the case of a death by suicide, it may be even harder to know what to say or how to help, since stigma can be an issue. Doreen Marshall, a psychologist with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, said loss survivors often feel an incredible amount of guilt and may assume responsibility for what happened. Dr. Marshall, who lost her fiancé to suicide, said that means friends and loved ones may be even more reluctant to offer support.

As with any other type of sudden loss, focus on providing the type of support that the griever needs, Dr. Marshall said. Avoid asking about the circumstances of the death, she said, but say the loved one’s name, ask about the person’s life and share happy memories that you have.

“We miss our kids like crazy,” said Marny Lombard, when we spoke about her son, Sam, who died by suicide in 2013 at 22 years old. If Sam comes up in conversation, it doesn’t make her more upset. “When you say the name of my child, you bring me momentary joy,” she said.

Audio produced by Kate Winslett.

If you are having thoughts of suicide, in the United States call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 (TALK) or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources. Go here for resources outside the United States.

Sudden cardiac death syndrome | Clinical Diagnostic Center

Sudden cardiac death is a condition in which the heart stops beating unexpectedly and for no reason. However, this is only at first glance. As a rule, such patients have cardiovascular diseases.

In most cases, sudden cardiac death is caused by a violation of blood circulation in the vessels of the heart. Due to this, a violation of the heart rhythm develops, which leads to cardiac arrest. Less commonly, heart muscle disease (cardiomyopathy) or heart valve disease can be the cause. Patients with heart failure are also at risk.

The mechanism of development of sudden cardiac death in the vast majority of cases is associated with very frequent non-rhythmic contractions of the ventricles of the heart. The muscle fibers of the heart begin to contract chaotically, scattered, and the heart stops working as a pump that supplies blood to other organs and tissues. But a person who is essentially in a state of clinical death can still be saved. There are only a few minutes for this. Delay every minute reduces the chances of salvation by 10%. That is, after 10 minutes, the probability of saving a person is almost zero.

– Symptoms of sudden cardiac death are severe weakness, dizziness, loss of consciousness, breathing stops after a few minutes. In this situation, if help is not provided in time, a fatal outcome may occur, – Tatyana Gordienko, a cardiologist at the CDC, told . – Since resuscitation should be carried out immediately, and in real life it is far from always feasible, the main approach to solving the problem of sudden cardiac death is its prevention.

Sudden death only seems sudden. Usually the body takes a long time to reach this outcome. Therefore, you should determine as early as possible whether you are at risk. In it, first of all, there are people who have already undergone clinical death. They are 30% more likely to relive a cardiac arrest. In second place, with a 25 percent chance of dying suddenly, are those who have had a myocardial infarction. On the third (20%) – patients with heart failure.

The least likely to fall dead – about 5% – in people who are considered relatively healthy, but lead an unhealthy lifestyle – smoke, move little, eat irrationally, are overweight or obese and have high blood pressure. But there are more than half of such people, so their share in the structure of sudden death is significant.

Common interventions to reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death include smoking cessation, weight control, cholesterol-lowering measures, and control of blood sugar and blood pressure.

– Today, not only elderly patients suffer from cardiovascular diseases, but also young people, and they often ignore the symptoms and do not seek medical help in time, – said Tatyana Sergeevna.

It should be noted that the main cause of death among children and adolescents was precisely undiagnosed congenital malformations in time, with the greatest risk group being young men actively involved in sports.

To prevent an irreversible catastrophe, a healthy person needs to have an electrocardiogram once a year. If there have already been problems in the past, then it is required to be regularly observed by the attending cardiologist, follow all the recommendations and undergo additional examinations (echocardiography, daily ECG monitoring, stress tests, etc.).

Risk factors:

• Heart failure
• Post-infarction or post-cardiac arrest condition
• Cardiac arrhythmias
• Past pulmonary embolism

Other factors that increase the risk of sudden cardiac death:

• Age
• Smoking
• High blood pressure
• Overweight
• Diabetes mellitus
• High cholesterol

Article title:

Sudden cardiac death syndrome

5 unexpected causes of premature death

April 4, 2014 about 12

Kotikovich Yu. S.

Keywords:

air pollution,

cancer,

life expectancy,

cardiovascular diseases,

sedentary lifestyle

Specialties: 90 005

Preventive medicine

Summary

prolong life

Unfortunately, death is an integral part of life that cannot be prevented. However, everyone can delay its onset by slightly changing their lifestyle.

At present, specialists are aware of many risk factors that can lead to the development of chronic diseases and premature death. Many of them are sufficiently well studied (for example, smoking, drinking alcohol, high blood pressure), which allows the development of programs for preventive measures. However, there are other factors – habits or behavioral characteristics – that at first glance seem safe, but can also shorten life expectancy. These include:

1. Watching TV frequently and for a long time. A large number of people after a long day at work choose a passive option for relaxation – watching TV. However, a sedentary lifestyle can seriously threaten your health. Scientists from the University of Navarra, Spain, analyzed the daily behavior of 13,284 students over 8.2 years. The purpose of their work is to estimate the likelihood of premature death depending on the amount of time spent in front of the TV, driving a car or on the Internet. During the entire study period, 9 people died7 participants (19 due to cardiovascular disease, 46 due to cancer, 32 due to other reasons). Scientists noted that people who watched TV for ≥3 hours more often, almost 2 times, died prematurely, compared with those who spent ≤1 hour in front of the screen. Passion for the Internet or driving did not affect the risk of premature death.

2. Loneliness. It has its obvious drawbacks in terms of mental health, but can such a condition affect physical well-being? Scientists from the University of Chicago, USA, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting, presented the results of a study in which they came to exactly this conclusion. They noted that various aspects of life associated with loneliness can increase the risk of premature death. So, older people who feel lonely are less likely to cope with stressful situations and take a positive view of the world around them. They are more likely to have high blood pressure, high cortisol levels, and sleep disturbances. A team of researchers concluded that lonely elderly people have a 14% higher risk of premature death than their peers who have loved ones.

3. Early retirement. Hard work is known to increase stress and anxiety levels, but idleness increases the risk of depression, cardiovascular disease, and premature death. It may seem that early retirement is a good opportunity to truly enjoy life, but in the course of recent research, scientists have come to the conclusion that this is not the case. Researchers from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, analyzed the relationship between the risk of premature death and early retirement among office workers. It turned out that for men, this self-withdrawal from daily work increases the risk of death before they reach 67 years of age. Moreover, each additional year of early retirement increases the risk of premature death by 13.4%.

4. Living in an area with a high level of air pollution. In many parts of the world, air pollution has become so common that people tend to ignore its impact on their health. However, many experts consider it as the most aggressive environmental risk factor. It is known that permanent residence in an area with a high level of air pollution increases the risk of stroke, heart attack, respiratory diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and certain types of cancer. According to the results of studies conducted by experts from the World Health Organization (WHO), the main cause of every eighth death on the planet is polluted air. Maria Neira, head of the Department for Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health at the World Health Organization (WHO’s Department for Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health), noted that every year scientists receive more and more data on the harmful effects of polluted air. This makes us think about the need to develop large-scale air purification programs.

5. Failure to follow the rules of oral hygiene. Swedish scientists from the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, have shown that people who neglect brushing their teeth put themselves at an increased risk of premature death. Researchers have found that the accumulation of plaque can lead to the development of cancer. The participants in this work, which was carried out in the period 1985–2009, were 1390 people. Scientists analyzed their lifestyle, all the factors that could potentially contribute to the development of cancer, and assessed their activity in observing the rules of oral hygiene. Twenty-four years after the start of the study, 58 participants were declared dead, with cancer causing 35 deaths. After studying the data obtained, the researchers concluded that a large amount of plaque increased the risk of developing oncological pathologies. They suggested that the bacteria contained in it are a possible source of infection, which can play a key role in the development of malignant neoplasms.