37,650 ways to have "persistent complex bereavement disorder" yet only 48 ways to have "prolonged grief disorder"

Lonneke I M Lenferink; Maarten C Eisma

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2017.12.050

37,650 ways to have "persistent complex bereavement disorder" yet only 48 ways to have "prolonged grief disorder"

Psychiatry Res. 2018 Mar:261:88-89. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2017.12.050. Epub 2017 Dec 20.

Authors

Lonneke I M Lenferink¹, Maarten C Eisma²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712 TS Groningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: l.i.m.lenferink@rug.nl.
² Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712 TS Groningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: m.c.eisma@rug.nl.

PMID: 29289026
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2017.12.050

Abstract

Persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD) is a condition for further study in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5. Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) will likely be included in the International Classification of Diseases'-11. While it has been argued that PCBD and PGD cover the same diagnostic entity, their symptom count differs. A higher symptom count may increase the complexity of diagnostic algorithm and thereby the symptom profile heterogeneity of a disorder. Using binomial equations, a nearly thousand-fold difference in possible symptom profiles to meet PGD versus PCBD criteria was demonstrated, showing both disorders may differ more than just semantically.

Keywords: Persistent complex bereavement disorder; Prolonged grief disorder; Symptom heterogeneity.

MeSH terms

Bereavement*
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders*
Grief*
Humans
International Classification of Diseases*
Mental Disorders / classification*
Mental Disorders / diagnosis
Semantics