Most bereaved people make their way along the grief road, albeit bumpy and full of potholes, that leads to accepting the loss, integrating the reality of that loss into a new life, and reimagining a future with the possibility of joy.
The acute grief, the intensely painful grief that you feel in those first months, starts to lessen. It transforms and becomes integrated into your new life, your new normal.

Most people fall into this category.

However, a small minority of people, roughly 7-10% according to the National Institute of Health, become so entangled, essentially trapped in their grief.

And this is where complicated grief is different. Complicated grief is the syndrome that occurs when the transformation from the darkness of grief back into the light does not happen.

Complicated grief disrupts the healing process. Complicated grief is altered grief that starts down a different course than the one we just talked about. Basically, it takes a turn for the worse. You struggle to move forward. Your grief is so profound it becomes chronic and debilitating. It cripples your ability to function normally in the world. The suffering persists. It becomes deep-rooted. Sometimes lasting for years. Healing just doesn’t happen.

Today we discuss what it means to have complicated grief, who is likely to experience it, and how we can treat it.

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