Complicated Grief: What to Expect After the Coronavirus Pandemic

Camilla Gesi; Claudia Carmassi; Giancarlo Cerveri; Barbara Carpita; Ivan Mirko Cremone; Liliana Dell'Osso

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00489

Complicated Grief: What to Expect After the Coronavirus Pandemic

Front Psychiatry. 2020 May 26:11:489. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00489. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Camilla Gesi¹, Claudia Carmassi², Giancarlo Cerveri³, Barbara Carpita², Ivan Mirko Cremone², Liliana Dell'Osso²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mental Health and Addiction, ASST Fatebenfratelli-Sacco, Milan, Italy.
² Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
³ Department of Mental Health and Addiction, ASST Lodi, Lodi, Italy.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the worst public health crises in a century, with an expected amount of deaths of several million worldwide and an even bigger number of bereaved people left behind. Although the consequences of this crisis are still unknown, a significant number of bereaved people will arguably develop Complicated Grief (CG) in the aftermath of this emergency. If the current pandemic is unprecedented, the grief following the coronavirus outbreak is likely to share features with grief related to natural disasters and after Intensive Care Unit (ICU) treatment. The aim of this paper is to review the most prominent literature on CG after natural disasters, as well as after diseases requiring ICU treatment. This body of evidence may be useful for helping bereaved people during the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and for drawing clinical attention to people at risk for CG.

Keywords: COVID-19; ICU treatment; SARS-CoV-2; bereavement; complicated grief; coronavirus outbreak; natural disaster; pandemic.

Publication types

Review