Is Grief a Disease?”

In 1961, George Engel (1913–1999), founder of the innovative general theory of illness and healing known as the biopsychosocial model, wrote a classic paper entitled “Is Grief a Disease? A Challenge for Medical Research.” This article fuelled debate about the status of grief as a medical condition, with Engel’s question frequently taken as the starting point. But what did Engel really say: Was he actually arguing that grief is a disease? Has his position been accurately represented? Given that grief complications are currently under research investigation for potential diagnostic categorization as a mental disorder, it seems timely to reassess Engel’s historic contribution. I outline Engel’s arguments and illustrate the ensuing impact and interpretations of his position. I end with a personal communication from Engel, in which he elaborated why he posed this question, his purpose in writing the article, and his reason for considering that his “provocative title misfired.”

Biopsychosocial model · Categorization · Epistemology · Grief · Point (geometry · Position (finance · Psychoanalysis · Psychotherapist · Sociology · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Homelessness and Social Issues · Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse · Mathematics · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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  Open Access•Felicity Dewhurst, Royce Turner et al.•OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying•2025

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  Open Access•George L Engel•Science•1977

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• Is Grief a Disease

  George L Engel•Psychosomatic Medicine•1961

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• Grief as an Emotion and as a Disease

  Open Access•James R Averill, Elma P Nunley•Journal of Social Issues•1988

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• Spontaneous and Experimentally Induced Depressions in an Infant with A Gastric Fistula

  Open Access•George L Engel, Franz Reichsman•Journal of the American…•1956

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