Pharmacotherapy for Reducing the Grieving Process of Romantic Relationship Breakup: A Clinical Trial

Abstract

The breakup of a romantic relationship imposes considerable grief to individuals and is actually a psychological and psychiatric challenge. The current study is a clinical trial of a pharmacologic agent reducing post-relationship grief. 90 female patients with the mean age of 29.55 ± 4.65 years were divided into two groups as an intervention group (n = 45) and the control group (n = 45). All patients were experiencing a diagnosed depression due to a romantic breakup during the last six months. The control group received a standard pharmacotherapy for depression, which was 50 mg sertraline daily. The intervention group received an additional 0.05 mg Clonidine daily. The treatment was continued for 8 weeks, and the visual analog scale evaluated the subjective report of the patients for grief and intensity of love. Comparison of pre-treatment and post-treatment grief and intensity of love were analyzed using ANOVA. Clonidine induced a significant decrease in the post-breakup grief with no significant change in the intensity of love. This pharmacotherapy is suggested for better management of romantic breakup.