Introduction to Traumatic Grief

The loss of a family member, significant other, or friend exposes the afflicted person to a higher risk for several types of psychiatric disorders. In addition to the potential complications that include major depression, anxiety, and PTSD, there is much current (and renewed) interest in pathologic forms of grief.

Definition and Concept

Jacobs, in this innovative new text, introduces the term traumatic grief as a description of this diagnostic entity. Here, working criteria, associated descriptive features, and the clinical course of traumatic grief are detailed as the author further verifies the concept of traumatic grief as a disorder.

Significance and Application

As this is the first discussion of the clinical use of the diagnostic criteria for traumatic grief, this text serves as a foundation for psychiatric diagnosis and treatment of traumatic grief. The format follows the outline for disorders used in the DSM making this a useful tool for the practicing clinician.