Grief Care Pathway

Grief is the natural, multifaceted response to loss — most commonly the death of someone important, but also the loss of a relationship, health, identity, or way of life. There is no "right" way to grieve, and the experience varies enormously across individuals and cultures. Common grief responses include waves of sadness, yearning, anger, guilt, confusion, and physical symptoms like fatigue, appetite changes, and sleep disruption.

Most people move through grief without professional intervention, though the process is rarely linear and there is no fixed timeline. The DSM-5-TR introduced prolonged grief disorder (PGD) to describe a small but significant subset of bereaved people whose grief remains intense and functionally impairing 12 months or more after the loss (6 months for children). PGD is characterized by persistent, pervasive yearning for the deceased and a sense of being stuck or unable to move forward.

Professional support for grief ranges from bereavement support groups (widely available and often free) to individual grief counseling and specialized treatments like complicated grief therapy (CGT). Grief does not require treatment, but support can help — especially when grief is complicated by isolation, prior mental health conditions, traumatic loss, or lack of social support.