Prolonged grief disorder is a diagnosis added to the DSM-5-TR in 2022 for grief that remains intense and disabling well beyond the period most people need to adapt to a loss. Grief itself is not an illness, and there is no correct timeline for it. The diagnosis applies when, at least 12 months after the death of someone close (six months for children and adolescents), a person still experiences a persistent, consuming yearning for the deceased or a preoccupation with them nearly every day, together with symptoms such as identity disruption, disbelief, avoidance of reminders, intense emotional pain, numbness, a sense that life is meaningless, or difficulty reengaging with friends, activities and plans.
Roughly 7 to 10 percent of bereaved adults develop prolonged grief, with higher rates after sudden, violent or untimely deaths and after the loss of a child or spouse. It overlaps with but differs from major depression; the pain in prolonged grief centers on the person who died rather than on a global sense of worthlessness, though both can be present. The best-supported treatment is a targeted psychotherapy, prolonged grief treatment, developed by Katherine Shear at Columbia, which combines elements of CBT, exposure to avoided memories and places, and work on rebuilding goals. Antidepressants help when depression coexists but do not treat grief itself. Stedfast Psychiatry provides grief-related care at all offices and by telehealth, and our clinicians distinguish normal mourning from grief that has become stuck and needs treatment.