It’s well known that grief is not linear, but for a small percentage of people, it’s also never-ending. It’s estimated that 10% of people who have lost a loved one experience Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD), which is defined as having very difficult feelings, such as sadness or guilt, which last more than six months. PGD is a psychiatric disorder and is characterized by elevated levels of bereavement-related distress. People with PGD spend a lot of time thinking about the person who has died, have difficulty accepting the death, and struggle to return to everyday activities. They may feel that life has lost its meaning, that they have lost part of their identity, or simply cannot accept the death, even though they know it has occurred. It doesn't affect everyone who has experienced such a loss, leaving scientists puzzled. Researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia, argue that PGD shares some of the brain patterns seen in patients with depression and anxiety, and there's also activity in the systems involved in reward and attachment. This could mean that people are craving the presence of their lost loved one on a deep psychological level, making it harder for them to effectively move on. Lead author Richard Bryant hopes to expand his research in the future by working with larger groups of bereaved people to monitor how their brain activity changes as they move through — or get stuck in — grief. "We do have treatments that can address it, but we can't do that if we can't identify these people,” said Bryant.
