Understanding Prolonged Grief Disorder

What Is Prolonged Grief Disorder?

Prolonged grieving disorder (PGD), often referred to as complicated grief (CG), traumatic grief (TG), or persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD), is a mental illness characterized by a unique mix of symptoms that develops when a close friend or family member passes away. Losing a loved one is an extremely traumatic event. A normal human reaction to loss, grief manifests as a variety of feelings, including emptiness, rage, and sadness. While mourning is a normal way to deal with a loss, some people experience excessive, ongoing sadness that can develop into prolonged sadness disorder (PSD), also known as complex grief, which is a crippling disorder. About ten percent of bereaved survivors are thought to have PGD. However, percentages might vary significantly according to the populations examined and the criteria applied.

What Are the Symptoms of Prolonged Grief Disorder?

It is important to take care of emotional health if one has just lost a loved one. This is a typical time to experience grief. However, it may become harmful if it is too strong and persists for several months during the day. Among the warning indicators of PGD are:

• Feeling as if a piece of oneself has vanished.

• A feeling of shock upon death.

• Avoiding reminders that they are no longer alive.

• Strong feelings of grief, resentment, or fury over the loss.

• Having trouble with regular life (making plans for the future, pursuing hobbies, and interacting with others).

• Apathy on an emotional level.

• Having a sense that existence has no purpose.

• Extreme loneliness, or the sense of being cut off from other people.

A PGD sufferer might potentially:

• Keep the dead person's possessions precisely as they were before they passed away. Have difficulties recalling happy recollections of their loved one.

• Find it difficult to trust other individuals.

• Increase the intake of alcohol, smoke, or other drugs.

• Possess suicidal ideas or actions.

Anyone can experience PGD. However, depending on an individual's age, gender, or cultural background, the symptoms may vary. PGD often affects women more frequently.

Symptoms of Children: Due to the significant influence that a parent or major caregiver had on their lives, children and teens may develop PGD following the death of that individual. Physicians should cautiously label children with PGD, though, as it is common for youngsters to experience intense emotional reactions following the death of a significant adult.

• Await the return of the departed individual.

• Return to the locations where they last saw their cherished one.

• Worry that other people could perish.

• Possess "magical" ideas or anxiety about being alone.

• Express deep melancholy or emotional suffering by using a variety of emotions.

• Anger stemming from a loved one's passing may manifest as irritation, tantrums, or other behavioral issues. (little toddlers frequently exhibit this).

How to Distinguish Between Prolonged Grief Disorder and Normal Grieving?

Since grief is a unique emotion, each person's experience will differ substantially in severity and duration. But in cases of extended mourning disorder, the emotional suffering brought on by a loss is so great. It lasts so long that it seriously impairs a person's capacity to go about their daily lives normally. PGD symptoms can include the following and usually last more than a year (or six months in the case of children and adolescents) following the loss:

• Severe and Intolerable Emotional Pain: The grief and anguish seem unending and overwhelming.

• Preoccupation with the Deceased: An intense longing to be with the deceased and ongoing thoughts about them.

• Challenges Accepting the Death: The incapacity to acknowledge that the loss has occurred.

• Emotional Numbness or Detachment: Emotional numbness or detachment is feeling emotionally cut off from oneself and the outside world.

• Reminder Avoidance: An intense desire to avoid everything related to the departed person, locations, or occasions.

• Identity Loss: Perceiving that a portion of a person perished along with the departed individual.

• Inability to Trust or Build Relationships: Retreating from social interactions and finding it difficult to establish new ties.

• Loss of Interest and Withdrawal: An inability to muster the will to engage in formerly enjoyable activities. Managing a job, school, or domestic duties is a problem with day-to-day functioning.

• Hopelessness and Sleep/Food Problems: Losing hope for the future and seeing alterations in one's food and sleeping habits.

How Do Physicians Diagnose Prolonged Grief Disorders?

If the symptoms do not more closely match the profile of another mental illness, a doctor will probably diagnose PGD.

• A persistent mourning reaction, which includes an ongoing desire for the deceased and obsession with their death, is one of the DSM-5 criteria for post-traumatic grief disorder. And three or more of the eight symptoms mentioned above.

• The World Health Organization (WHO) authorized one more characteristic in 2018. According to them, PGD symptoms also seriously interfere with one's ability to function in crucial spheres like one's personal, professional, or academic life. People can only continue operating in these areas if they put in significant extra work.

What Is the Treatment for Prolonged Grief Disorder?

• Therapy: The cornerstone of PGD treatment is psychotherapy. Different techniques for treatment can be beneficial, such as:

• Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT assists in recognizing and modifying the unfavorable cognitive processes that fuel grieving.

• Interpersonal Therapy (IPT): Grief can impact interpersonal therapy (IPT), which focuses on enhancing social relationships and communication abilities.

• Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT): CFT promotes acceptance of challenging emotions and self-compassion development.

• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): It is a technique that can be useful for processing painful memories connected to a loss.

• Medication: Antidepressants are sometimes used to treat the anxiety and sadness symptoms that frequently accompany postpartum depression (PGD). Medication should be taken in addition to treatment because it is not a cure.

• Support Groups: Connecting with people who have gone through lengthy losses before may be reassuring and validating. Support groups can offer a secure setting where members can exchange stories and pick up coping mechanisms from one another.

Extra Things to Think About:

• Seek out a mental health practitioner with expertise in trauma treatment or bereavement counseling.

• During this period, keeping healthy routines like getting enough sleep, working out, and eating a balanced diet is important. Self-care is most important.

• It takes time and effort to recover from protracted grief. Have patience and acknowledge the little accomplishments while trying.

Conclusion

Although biomarkers of prolonged grieving disorder have not been extensively studied, preliminary findings indicate that more research is necessary. Since that extended mourning disease is attachment-related, oxytocin (a hormone linked to social bonding and connection) may play a role. According to a recent pilot study, those with extended mourning disorder and people with severe depressive illness had greater levels of oxytocin. Remember, getting expert assistance is a sign of strength rather than weakness. One can manage the grief and take steps toward a healthy future with the correct support network and therapy program.