Diagnosis of prolonged grief disorder (PGD)

This chapter provides a synthesis and up-to-date summary of studies on prolonged grief disorder (PGD)—an intense, persistent, and disabling response to loss experienced by a significant minority of bereaved individuals. Circumstances surrounding cause of death, relationship with the deceased, and predisposing characteristics of the bereaved individual increase the risk of PGD. PGD is associated with adverse health outcomes, and often is comorbid with major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) has proven effective in prevention and intervention efforts. Novel interventions have been adapted for subgroups of bereaved samples. New efforts to derive the clinical utility of PGD to create a common dialogue among professionals have been made. Although great strides have been made in developing clinically useful criteria for PGD, future research would benefit from extension to new cultural contexts, and further examination of the clinical utility of the PGD diagnosis.