No pets allowed: Evidence that prolonged grief disorder can occur following the death of a pet.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) is a psychiatric disorder in ICD-11 and DSM-5-TR that can only be diagnosed following the death of a person. Despite considerable evidence that people form strong attachments to their pets, and experience high levels of grief following their death, the current guidelines do not allow PGD to be diagnosed following the death of a pet. This study tested several hypotheses to determine if there is anything unique about grief that follows the death of a person versus grief that follows the death of a pet.

Methods

A nationally representative sample of adults from the United Kingdom (N = 975) provided information about different bereavements, their most distressing bereavement, and ICD-11 PGD symptoms.

Results

One-third (32.6%) of re

SUBMITTER: Hyland P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12803462 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature