Adapting to a loved one death

Q: The process of adapting to the loss of a loved one and integrating grief is called? - Select one

A) Bereavement

B) Grief

C) Mourning 

D) Prolonged grief disorder 

Answer: C

It is essential to understand four responses that may occur after the loss of a loved one.

Bereavement (choice A) is simply the situation in which a loved one dies.

Grief  (choice B) is the natural response to that loss, expressed through thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and physiologic reactions, influenced by personal, cultural, and religious rituals.

Mourning (choice C) is the process of adapting to a loss and integrating grief. Adaptation involves accepting the finality and consequences of the loss and a changed relationship with the deceased, restoring the capacity to thrive, and re-envisioning the future with the possibility for happiness and meaning in a world without the deceased. Like grief, mourning is influenced by personal, cultural, and religious beliefs and rituals.

Prolonged grief disorder (choice D) is a prolonged grief disorder is a form of grief that is unusually intense, protracted, and disabling. It is maladaptive thoughts, dysfunctional behaviors, dysregulated emotions, and/or serious psychosocial problems that impede adaptation to the loss. It is also named as chronic grief, complex grief, complicated grief, pathological grief, persistent complex bereavement disorder, traumatic grief, and unresolved grief.  Please note: For many experts, it is not a psychiatric disorder in its purest form,

#palliative care

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References:

Zisook S, Shear K. Grief and bereavement: what psychiatrists need to know. World Psychiatry 2009; 8:67.

Boelen PA, Smid GE. Disturbed grief: prolonged grief disorder and persistent complex bereavement disorder. BMJ 2017; 357:j2016.

ICD-11 for Mortality and Morbidity Statistics (Version: 05/2021) https://icd.who.int/browse11/l-m/en#/http://id.who.int/icd/entity/1183832314 (Accessed on August 31, 2025).

Prigerson HG, Boelen PA, Xu J, et al. Validation of the new DSM-5-TR criteria for prolonged grief disorder and the PG-13-Revised (PG-13-R) scale. World Psychiatry 2021; 20:96.