Grief and Loss
Complicated grief disorder (CGD) is excessive, persistent grief that is more intense and lasts much longer than what is normally expected when a loved one is lost.
There are no official diagnostic criteria for CGD, but experiencing grief and having symptoms of bereavement for six months or longer accompanied by at least one of these signs:
- An intense and persistent longing for the person who has been lost
- Intense and frequent feelings of loneliness
- Persistent thoughts about the loss being unfair or unbearable, or about wanting to die to be with a loved one
- Preoccupying thoughts about the lost loved one
Treating Complicated Greif Disorder on Psychiatry.Live
Understanding Grief
Losing a loved one is one of the most distressing and, unfortunately, common experiences people face. Most people experiencing normal grief and bereavement have a period of sorrow, numbness, and even guilt and anger. Gradually these feelings ease, and it’s possible to accept loss and move forward.
For some people, feelings of loss are debilitating and don’t improve even after time passes. This is known as complicated grief, sometimes called persistent complex bereavement disorder. In complicated grief, painful emotions are so long lasting and severe that you have trouble recovering from the loss and resuming your own life. Sometimes grief can become depression.
Different people follow different paths through the grieving experience. The order and timing of these phases may vary from person to person:
- Accepting the reality of your loss
- Allowing yourself to experience the pain of your loss
- Adjusting to a new reality in which the deceased is no longer present
- Having other relationships
These differences are normal. But if you’re unable to move through these stages more than six months after the death of a loved one, you may have complicated grief.
Diagnosing and Treating Greif
You and your Psychiatry.Live provider will work together to determine the severity of your grief and the best type of treatment needed.
Grieving is a highly individual process for each person, and determining when normal grief becomes complicated grief or depression can be difficult.
Complicated grief may be considered when the intensity of grief has not decreased in the months after your loved one’s death. Some mental health professionals diagnose complicated grief when grieving continues to be intense, persistent and debilitating beyond 6 to 12 months.
There are many similarities between complicated grief and major depression, but there are also distinct differences. In some cases, clinical depression and complicated grief occur together.
To get the correct diagnosis your Psychiatry.Live provider may require a comprehensive medical and psychological exam.
Once a diagnosis has been made, your psychiatric provider will go over the various treatment plans which can include a combination of psychotherapy, medication, lifestyle changes and/or integrative holistic therapies.
Conditions We Treat
- Anxiety
- ADD/ADHD
- Bipolar
- Depression
- Insomnia
- Grief and Loss
- OCD
- Life Transitions
- Narcolepsy
- Panic Attacks
- Postpartum Depression
- PTSD
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