I came across an amazing article this week in the New York Times while doing research for a different grief project I am working on (I will update you it when I have more details to share). The article goes over the new addition of prolonged grief disorder as a new mental illness that can now be treated, billed, and addressed by different health professionals.
The new diagnosis is defined as grief lasting longer than a year and after some preemptive studies it seems that it occurs in about 4% of those that are bereaved. The announcement has come with some praise and disagreements from those "experts" in regards to the classification and setting that designated time frame for the diagnosis. Everyone grieves differently, and how that is now reflected in the medical community and for people's individual experience with this new designation should certainly help improve the stigma that surrounds grief, suicide, and the other issues we continue to deal with as part of our times as humans.
Reaching out and having other people to understand and try to support you can be a great help. I believe that having a greater acceptance and awareness of the people that may be struggling silently will certainly make it easier for anyone that is trying to overcome those hurdles and life circumstances that they are going through.
The Full Article can be found at the following link: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/18/health/prolonged-grief-disorder.html
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