Prolonged grief disorder

For a minority of people, the death of a loved one precipitates the development of prolonged grief disorder (PGD), or complicated grief (CG) as it has also been named (e.g., nged grief disorder in t). PGD has been defined as a clinical condition that encompasses specific grief reactions (including separation distress and difficulties accepting the loss and moving on without the lost person) that cause significant distress and disability at least 6 months after the death occurred. Symptoms of PGD are distinct from normal grief, bereavement-related depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other anxiety symptoms and syndromes, and, if left untreated, associated with significant impairments in health and quality of life (Prigerson et al., 2009; see also Chapter 7 in this volume).