Abstract
As many as 7% of U.S. veterans were found to have a positive screen for prolonged grief disorder, reports a study in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, a American Psychiatric Association (APA) press release stated. Veterans with prolonged grief disorder were more likely than those without the disorder to also have post‐traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. They were also more likely to endorse suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Prolonged grief disorder was approved by the APA board of trustees and the APA assembly for inclusion in DSM‐5 in 2020 (see “APA adds prolonged grief disorder to new text edition of DSM,” MHW, Oct. 4, 2021; https://doi.org/10.1002/mhw.32969). Of the 2,441 study participants (average age 63 years, predominantly white and non‐Hispanic), 2,339 (92.7%) reported the loss of someone close, and 158 (7.3%) screened positive for prolonged grief disorder. Factors associated with an increased risk for the disorder were being female; being Black; having served in the Marine Corps; having adverse childhood experiences; losing someone to suicide, homicide, or COVID‐19; and/or having a personal history of COVID‐19 infection.
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