Title: The Ways We Grieve | Psychology Today
Headings: The Ways We Grieve
Ralph Ryback M.D.
The Ways We Grieve
From loss, to despair, to recovery, grief is an inevitable part of life.
Bereavement after death
Normal grief reactions
Grief is more than just sadness
Anticipatory vs. traumatic grief
Dealing with loss
Grief pangs: Yearning, disorganization, and despair
THE BASICS
Unresolved, complicated grief
Persistent complex bereavement disorder
Recovering from bereavement

Content: Unresolved, complicated grief
Grief after someone we love dies can be overwhelming and even traumatic. Even though many people can successfully cope with and adapt to a loss, individuals who have lingering pathological or traumatic grief may need to seek professional services to overcome their emotional pain. article continues after advertisement
“Excessive and irrational grief” caused by mourning a loss was described by Freud (1917) as melancholy or depression. Whether the loss was actual or symbolic, he believed that unresolved feelings of guilt and other negative emotions stemming from the loss of someone we held dear could subsequently be directed inward toward oneself, which he called introjection. Bowlby (1980) later suggested that the neurophysiological processes that produce changes in our affect, behavior, and cognition can be prolonged or amplified in the face of complicated or unresolved grief. The symptoms that arise during complicated grief reactions can be so severe that they may even resemble those experienced with major depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ). Persistent complex bereavement disorder
Although the sadness and other emotions that stem from the loss of someone we loved may never completely go away, grief and sadness that remain severe, overwhelming and lingering may mean that we are stuck in mourning, a characteristic of complicated grief, and it can start to affect our functioning in daily life. article continues after advertisement
Grief during bereavement may itself induce such great emotional and psychological suffering that it can impact how a person functions in his or her life. For this reason, “persistent complex bereavement disorder” has been proposed as a condition that may warrant clinical attention in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ( DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013).