ABSTRACT
Grieving the death of a loved one has an ancient history. From time immemorial, cultures have provided the bereaved with advice and rituals to address, and express, the experience of grief. The phenomenology of grief needs to be understood because the overt manifestations of underlying grief in the emergency room may range from severe depression, panic attacks, and dissociative states to suicide attempts. During the transition from acute to integrate grief, which usually begins within the first few months of the death, the wounds begin to heal and the bereaved person finds his or her way back to a fulfilling life. Complicated grief, a syndrome that occurs in bereaved people, results from a failure to make the transition from acute to integrated grief. Psychiatric and medical interventions are required because of the increased morbidity and risk of suicide associated with complicated grief. Anticipatory grief is a term that describes the grief process a person undergoes before a loss actually occurs.
