A CRITICAL-REVIEW OF THE CONCEPT OF PATHOLOGICAL GRIEF FOLLOWING PREGNANCY LOSS

Citation
Hjem. Janssen et al., A CRITICAL-REVIEW OF THE CONCEPT OF PATHOLOGICAL GRIEF FOLLOWING PREGNANCY LOSS, Omega, 33(1), 1996, pp. 21-42
Citations number
82
Categorie Soggetti
Psychology
Journal title
OmegaACNP
ISSN journal
00302228
Volume
33
Issue
1
Year of publication
1996
Pages
21 - 42
Database
ISI
SICI code
0030-2228(1996)33:1<21:ACOTCO>2.0.ZU;2-8
Abstract
It has often been suggested in the literature on pregnancy loss, that parents run a high risk of complicated or pathological grief as a resu lt of the specific characteristics of such loss. What confuses the iss ue is that pathological grief has been defined in various ways. In the interest of improving professional care, it is important to ascertain how pathological grief manifests itself and which parents are most li kely to have problems coping with pregnancy loss and therefore develop pathological grief reactions. Given the lack of clarity regarding the concept of pathological grief following pregnancy loss, this article reviews empirical studies on pathological grief following pregnancy lo ss according to four subtypes derived from general bereavement literat ure: chronic grief, delayed grief, masked grief, and exaggerated grief . It can be concluded that in the first six months following pregnancy loss, psychological complaints, behavioral changes, and somatic compl aints are fairly common responses. Approximately 10-to-15 percent of t he women develop a psychiatric disorder during the first two years fol lowing such loss, and less than 10 percent seek specific psychiatric c are. Parents often mourn the loss of their baby for more than a year; one in five women is unable to accept pregnancy loss after approximate ly two years. A delayed grief reaction occurs in about 4 percent of pa rents and seems to occur most often in men. It is suggested that devel oping pathological grief following pregnancy loss may be more uncommon than had previously been thought, and the long-held idea that parents run a higher risk of pathological grief following pregnancy loss seem s partly to result from flaws in the empirical studies in this field. A large majority of women seem to be able to recover from pregnancy lo ss in due time, drawing on their own strength.