Death and Bereavement

This chapter provides clinicians with a concise summary on the topics of death and dying, working with terminally ill patients, and an overview of bereavement and grief. Special emphasis is given to explaining grief as the response to losing a loved one, including acute and integrated grief, as well as the new DSM-5-TR diagnosis of prolonged grief disorder. Advances in epidemiology, risk factors, pathophysiology, clinical features, diagnostic methods, and treatment of prolonged grief disorder are summarized. A discussion of other psychiatric disorders that can occur after bereavement, such as major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, is also included.