What is the difference between normal grief and complicated grief?
From the book – Chapter 10: Trauma, Grief and Loss
Normal grief versus complicated grief
Normal (uncomplicated) grief: intense pain, especially in early months; gradually becomes less overwhelming; the person can still experience moments of joy or connection; slowly resumes daily activities and relationships.
Complicated or prolonged grief: the grief stays intense for many months or years and does not ease. The person struggles to function, cannot accept the loss, and feels strong longing, bitterness or emptiness. It may come with depression, PTSD or substance use. Grief counselling, therapy and sometimes medicine for depression or anxiety can help a great deal.
Read the full chapter – Chapter 10: Trauma, Grief and Loss
Stories from real life
- The Road That Kept Coming Back – Imran, thirty-five, a delivery driver in Lucknow, survived a night-time road accident in which his friend was badly hurt. For the first few days he felt…
- Six Months Since Ashok – Lakshmi, sixty-two, lost her husband Ashok six months ago in Coimbatore. At first neighbours filled the house and she was too busy to feel. Now the…
- The House Where She Always Listened – Nadia, twenty-six, works as a designer in Birmingham. She is talented but exhausted by relationships. As a child she grew up in a home where shouting…
- When the Water Came – Ravi, eight, lives in a village in Assam. Last monsoon, the river flooded the house in the night, and the family had to wade out in…
Shloks
- Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2.3 – The afflictions are ignorance, I-making, attachment, aversion, and clinging to life.
More on this topic: Trauma, grief and loss – healing at your own pace
More questions
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- Understanding trauma-informed care
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- When to seek professional help?
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- Understanding childhood adversity – trauma and grief
- Who is more likely to develop PTSD?
- How is trauma and grief treated? Treatments that work
- Trauma-focused CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) in the treatment of trauma and grief
- Coping with grief and the loss of a loved one