DSM‐5 grief scorecard: Assessment and outcomes of proposals to pathologize grief

Abstract

Where does grief stand diagnostically, now that the dust has settled and the DSM-5 has been approved? The DSM-5 Task Force considered an unprecedented series of proposals to identify grief-related mental disorders where now there are assumed to be normal variations. The proposals taken together had the potential to transform psychiatry's conceptualization of grief and the clinician's response to bereaved patients. Targets for pathologization included both depressive symptoms during grief and grief itself – the yearning, disbelief, and other experiences distinctive of grief. Four grief-related proposals made it to the final leg of the DSM-5 revision process, a major event in itself. Here I review the proposals, assess their validity, and present the Task Force's final decisions, providing an overview of the status of grief post-DSM-5.