ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by noting that profound grief is a normal reaction to loss, but that the new science of bereavement research seems clear that a significant minority of grievers suffer from a more serious form of grief that probably requires professional attention. It explores risks and risk factors associated with prolonged grief, including the influence of the bereavement situation, personal factors, and the interpersonal context: the role of how death occurred, personality characteristics, age, gender, religiosity, social support, and kinship. The new science of bereavement research has established bereavement-related grief as a distinct condition. The chapter proposes diagnostic category of bereavement-related disorder (BRD) focused on what used to be called chronic or prolonged grief, although it does admit the possibility of traumatically induced cases. According to Kenneth Doka, who coined the term disenfranchised grief, this malady is grief is that is "not openly acknowledged, socially accepted, or publicly mourned".
