Table I. Summary of results of medication trials in bereavement-related depression and complicated grief. CG, complicated grief RCT, randomized controlled trial; SC, study completers; ITT, intention to treat; TRIG, Texas revised inventory of grief; ICG, inventory of complicated grief.

Authors (year)	Design	Population	Duration	Time since loss	Drug	Results
Bereavement-related depression
Jacobs et al (1987)17	Open-label (ITT)	n=10, age range=26-65, 80% women	4 weeks		Desipramine, 75-150 mg/day	Depressive symptoms: 70% responders
						Grief symptoms: 37.5% responders
Pasternak et al (1991)19	Open-label (SC)	n=13 CG patients, 61.5% women, mean age=71.1	median=6.4 weeks	mean=11.9 months	Nortriptyline mean dose=49.2mg/day	Depressive symptoms improvement rate: 68%
						Grief symptoms improvement rate: 9%
Zisook et al (2001)22	Open-label (ITT)	n=22 for ITT sample, 77.3% women, mean(SD) age=63.5 (11.0)	8 weeks	4-6 weeks	Bupropion, flexible 150-200mg/day	ITT: Depressive symptoms improvement rate: 54%
						ITT: Grief symptoms improvement rate: ICG= 18%, TRIG= 5%
	Open-label (SC)	n=14 for SC sample	8 weeks	4-6 weeks	Bupropion, flexible 150-200mg/day	SC: Depressive symptoms improvement rate: 73%
						SC: Grief symptoms improvement rate: ICG=22%, TRIG-9%
Reynolds et al (1999)24	RCT	n=25 nortriptyline vs n=22 placebo (vs n=17 IPT vs n=16 nortriptyline+IPT), Major Depressive Discorder, TRIG≥45, 72.5% women, mean age=66.1	16 weeks	mean=8.1 months	Nortriptyline mean dose=66 mg/day	Depressive symptoms: nortriptyline group=56% remission placebo group=45% remission vs nortriptyline+IPT group=69% remission
						Grief symptoms: no differential effect of treatments
Complicated grief
Zygmont et al (1998)25	Open-label (SC)	n=15 mean age=57, icg≥20, 73.3% women	16-week	median=17 months	Paroxetine, flexible 20-50 mg/day	Depressive symptoms improvement rate: 51 %
						Grief symptoms improvement rate: ICG=48%
Shear et al (2006)28	Open-label (modified ITT)	n=17, ICG≥30	16 weeks	mean=3.9 years	Escitalopram, flexible 10-20mg/day	ITT: Grief symptoms improvement rate: ICG=24%
	Open-label (SC)	n=7, ICG≥30				SC Grief symptoms improvement rate: ICG=35%
Simon et al (2007)26	Case series	n=4, ICG≥25, 100% women, mean (SD) age=41.75(14.4)	10 weeks	> 6 months	Escitalopram, flexible 10-20mg/day	Complicated grief: 100% responders
						Grief symptoms improvement rate: ICG=76%
Hensley et al (2009)27	Open-label (SC)	n=14 with Major Depressive Disorder and CG	12 weeks	> 6 months	Escitalopram, flexible 10-20mg/day	Grief symptoms improvement rate: ICG=21%