Prolonged grief disorder

Prolonged grief disorder, also known as complicated grief, traumatic grief, and persistent complex bereavement disorder, is a mental disorder consisting of a distinct set of symptoms following the death of a family member or close friend. It involves becoming intensely preoccupied with the loss to the point of clinically significant impairment, with symptoms including depression, emotional pain, numbness, loneliness, identity disturbance, and relationship difficulties. People with the disorder often have difficulty accepting the death, ruminate about it, feel a strong yearning for reunion with the deceased, and sense that life has become meaningless; elevated rates of suicidal ideation and attempts are documented. The DSM-5-TR classifies it as a trauma and stressor related disorder, requiring intense longing or preoccupation with the deceased alongside identity disturbance, difficulty accepting the death, emotional pain or numbness, loneliness, and reduced life meaning, with symptoms exceeding cultural expectations for grief and not better explained by another condition. The ICD-11 similarly diagnoses it as ongoing and intense grief with core symptoms of longing, emotional pain, and significant daily disruption that lasts longer than culturally expected.