The varieties of grief experience

Thp bereavement literature has yet to shown consensus on a clear definition of normal and abnormal or complicated grief reactions. According to DSM-IV : bereavement is a stressor event that warrants a clinical diagnosis only i n extreme cases when other DSM categories of psychopathology (e.g, Major De pression) are evident. In contrast, bereavement theorists have proposed a n umber of different types of abnormal grief reactions, including those in wh ich grief is masked or delayed. In this article, we review empirical eviden ce on the longitudinal course, phenomenological features, and possible diag nostic relevance of grief reactions. This evidence was generally consistent with the DSM-IV's view of bereavement and provided little support for more complicated taxonomies. Most bereaved individuals showed moderate disrupti ons in functioning during the first year after a loss, while more chronic s ymptoms were evidenced by re relatively small minority. Further, those indi viduals showing chronic grief reactions can be relatively easily accommodat ed by existing diagnostic categories. Finally, we found no evidence to supp ort the proposed delayed grief category. We close by suggesting directions for subsequent research. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved .