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Clarification re: complicated grief

Ronald Pies   (11 March 2009)  SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse NY; Tufts USM, Boston

Addendum: After several discussions with Dr. Naomi Simon and Dr. Sidney Zisook, it has emerged that the category known as "complicated grief" [CG]remains somewhat murky, vis-a-vis the affective continuum I propose in my article. For example, some elements of CG resemble post-traumatic stress disorder, or overlap with PTSD. Nonetheless, I believe there are compelling reasons, at present, for keeping CG on the affective disorders continuum (e.g., its association with suicidal ideation and apparent responsiveness to antidepressants, as per Dr. Simon's case reports--
see Am J Psychiatry. 2007 Nov;164(11):1760-1.)

I also wanted to clarify that, in addition to Dr. Simon, several other investigators pioneered the concept of "complicated grief", including but not limited to Drs. George Bonanno, Kathy Shear, Holly Prigerson, and Mardi Horowitz.

Ronald Pies MD


The writer reports no competing interests with respect to the above.

Competing interests

None declared

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