The discipline of social work has long prided itself on taking a holistic view of human suffering and well-being and for advocating for conditions that enhance the quality of life for vulnerable populations. Yet, as others have pointed out (Carney, 2012), social workers have remained mostly silent when it comes to the changes proposed for the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). This is perplexing, given the debate this revision process has sparked in the mental health professions. In addition, social workers provide a substantial portion of mental health services in the United States, typically using the DSM (Frazer, Westhuis, Daley, & Phillips, 2009), and any changes to the manual will likely have farreaching effects on the individuals social workers serve and on the profession as a whole. For this reason, the DSM-5 changes require critical evaluation from social work. Though a wide range of changes has been proposed, we wish to consider just one aspect that has generated heated debate and public outcry: a change to the criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD). Whereas DSM-IV offers a bereavement exclusion that discourages the use of this diagnosis within a two-month postdeath period, DSM-5 proposes to eliminate this exclusion and allow a diagnosis of MDD two weeks after a death. We consider this proposal in light of its potential effect on bereaved parents, who constitute an especially vulnerable population socially, emotionally, and even economically (Song, Floyd, Mailick Seltzer, Greenberg, & Hong, 2010), due to the traumatic nature of infant and child death.