Here you can read about the research project:
“Understandings of and Experiences with Prolonged Grief Disorder”
Designating a condition as a mental disorder has far-reaching consequences - for the individuals concerned, for the surrounding support and treatment systems, and for society as a whole.
The Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) has recently been introduced as an independent psychiatric diagnosis for persistent grief reactions that require treatment. The diagnosis is expected to help identify and offer relevant assistance to a group of people who, in some cases, have previously remained outside the healthcare system - either due to a lack of diagnosis or misdiagnosis.
Despite a growing body of research literature focusing on symptoms and treatment interventions, the lived and experienced dimension of prolonged grief disorder remains relatively underexplored. There is still a lack of deeper understanding regarding what characterizes grief as disordered or requiring treatment - a complex and multifaceted question.
Drawing on the formal recognition of the diagnosis, this project investigates these questions through three approaches: empirical, theoretical, and conceptual.
The project has two primary objectives:
To shed light on the experience of prolonged grief disorder
The project examines how the bereaved, who are assessed to meet the criteria for prolonged grief disorder, describe and experience their grief. The purpose is to create a nuanced understanding of what characterizes this form of grief from an experiential perspective.
To examine the foundation of the prolonged grief disorder diagnosis
The project analyzes the theoretical and conceptual assumptions underlying the definition of grief as an independent psychiatric disorder. It investigates how understandings of mental illness, diagnostics, and grief have contributed to the establishment of the diagnosis, as well as the implications this entails.
The project is part of a Ph.D.-thesis, which is expected to be completed in the spring of 2027. The results will be published continuously in scientific journals, with the first article published in 2024.
Once the publications are publicly available, links will be updated here on the Unit for Bereavement Research website.
If you would like to hear more about the project, you are welcome to contact Ph.D. fellow Lars Petter Bergsmark via email: lpbergsm@psy.au.dk