Pathological grief reactions

Abstract

In many areas of medicine it is difficult to distinguish normal and abnormal, nonpathological and pathological, or health and disease. The study of bereavement shares this difficulty. This chapter focuses on major theoretical perspectives that might aid in defining or understanding pathological grief. A historical overview is provided, and questions are raised regarding the overlap between grief and defined disorder. In particular, discussion focuses on the problem that research to date has not clearly identified areas of psychopathology that are grief-specific. This reflects in part a lack of operationalized criteria for pathological grief.