Experiences of Complicated Grief – A Synthesis of Qualitative Studies

Objective: Synthesize research findings and provide insight into firsthand experiences of complicated grief. Methods: We systematically searched qualitative studies in English in four databases (PsycInfo, PubMed, CINAHL and Web of Science). We included 5 studies and applied meta-ethnography to identify and translate across studies. Results: This review illuminates the firsthand experiences of complicated grief. Three key themes were identified: 'ambivalence', 'misrecognition', and 'self-sacrifice'. These concepts reflect the synthesis of available qualitative research on the experience of complicated grief. The findings suggest that complicated grief is experienced as intrusive and unhelpful, providing a distressful state with lack of recognition from the perspective of the bereaved. Conclusions: The synthesis provides an empirically founded interpretation and contribution to the challenge of distinguishing between normal, complicated, and pathological grief reactions. As bereavement increasingly becomes a clinical concern, these findings highlight the necessity for further phenomenological research and the detailed profiling of disordered grief

Ambivalence · CINAHL · Grief · MEDLINE · Perspective (graphical · Psychiatry · Psychological intervention · Psychotherapist · PsycINFO · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Computer Science · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Homelessness and Social Issues · Migration, Health and Trauma · Psychology · Social Psychology

• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

  American Psychiatric Association American Psychiatric Association, American…•Diagnostic and Statistical Manual…•2022

  Incluir item

• Presence in absence. The ambiguous phenomenology of grief

  Open Access•Theobald Fuchs•Phenomenology and the Cognitive…•2018

  Incluir item

• Using meta ethnography to synthesise qualitative research

  Open Access•Nicky Britten, Rona Campbell et al.•Journal of Health Services…•2002

  Incluir item

• Grief and bereavement

  Open Access•Sidney Zisook, Katherine Shear•World Psychiatry•2009

  Incluir item

• Treatment of Complicated Grief

  Katherine Shear, Ellen Frank et al.•JAMA•2005

  Incluir item

• Health outcomes of bereavement

  Open Access•Margaret S Stroebe, Henk Schut et al.•The Lancet•2007

  Incluir item

• History and Status of Prolonged Grief Disorder as a Psychiatric Diagnosis

  Holly G Prigerson, Sophia E Kakarala et al.•Annual Review of Clinical…•2021

  Incluir item

• Time to challenge the spurious hierarchy of systematic over narrative reviews?

  Open Access•Trisha Greenhalgh, Sally Thorne et al.•European Journal of Clinical…•2018

  Incluir item

• Prevalence of prolonged grief disorder in adult bereavement

  Open Access•Marie Lundorff, Helle Holmgren et al.•Journal of Affective Disorders•2017

  Incluir item

• Complicated grief and related bereavement issues for DSM-5

  Open Access•M Katherine Shear, Naomi Simon et al.•Depression and Anxiety•2011

  Incluir item

• Qualitative research

  Open Access•Kirsti Malterud•The Lancet•2001

  Incluir item

• Death from a broken heart”

  Jeffrey Ennis, Umair Majid•Death Studies•2021

  Incluir item

• What Exactly Is “Complicated” Grief? A Scoping Research Literature Review to Understand Its Risk Factors and Prevalence

  Open Access•Donna M Wilson, Elizabeth Mirekuwaa Darko et al.•OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying•2020

  Incluir item

• I was Just Trying to Stick it Out Until I Realized that I Couldn'T”

  Open Access•Angela Ghesquiere•OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying•2013

  Incluir item

• Risk factors of severe prolonged grief disorder among individuals experiencing late-life bereavement in Japan

  Kanako Shimizu•Death Studies•2020

  Incluir item

• A qualitative phenomenological exploration of prolonged grief in New Delhi, India

  Open Access•Siddharth Sarkar, Prashant Gupta et al.•Transcultural Psychiatric…•2023

  Incluir item