The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has updated its Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, including with new information specifically addressed to individuals in the European Economic Area. As described in the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, this website utilizes cookies, including for the purpose of offering an optimal online experience and services tailored to your preferences.

Please read the entire Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. By closing this message, browsing this website, continuing the navigation, or otherwise continuing to use the APA's websites, you confirm that you understand and accept the terms of the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, including the utilization of cookies.

×
No Access

Management of established pathological grief reaction after stillbirth

Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.143.8.987

This paper focuses on the etiology, recognition, and treatment of established pathological grief reactions in parents bereaved by stillbirth. Bereavement in this situation differs in a number of aspects from conventional bereavement, and these dictate that the style of grief therapy be modified. Four such aspects are discussed: the unique psychological properties of the lost object, the complexity of the emotional attachment that expectant parents develop toward their unborn child, the unusual psychobiological climate in which the loss occurs, and the sociocultural definition of the meaning and significance of the loss.

Access content

To read the fulltext, please use one of the options below to sign in or purchase access.