Losing a pet may lead to long-lasting grief comparable to losing a loved one—study
A recent study showed that people can experience grief after losing a pet that's just as intense as the sorrow felt after a human death. In some cases, the distress may even become clinically serious.
In a study from PLOS One, published on Jan. 14, it was found that individuals mourning the death of a pet may experience prolonged grief disorder, a mental health condition triggered by the loss of a loved one.
"Results indicated that about a third of UK adults had experienced the death of a beloved pet, and almost all had also experienced the death of a person who they were close to," it read. The data were obtained from an analyzed survey of 975 adults in the United Kingdom.
Philip Hyland, the researcher and professor of psychology at Maynooth University in Ireland, also found that grief can be clinically serious, as the pain of losing a pet is comparable to the death of a parent or other family member.
"Participants who lost a pet were 27% more likely to meet diagnostic requirements for PGD relative to those who had not lost a pet. What was noteworthy about this result was that it was of a similar magnitude to that observed for the death of a parent (31%) and the death of a sibling (21%), and stronger than that observed for the death of a close friend and the death of some other family member," he wrote.
The study noted that other than intense grief, many pet parents also experience feelings of "shame, embarrassment, and isolation" following the death of their pets.
"Many pet owners experience intense grief following the death of their pet, and many also report feelings of shame, embarrassment, and isolation as a result of expressing their grief for their deceased pet. Negative social reactions to displays of grief have been labelled ‘disenfranchised grief’, and this phenomenon has been identified as being particularly relevant to those mourning a pet," it read.
"If people can develop clinically significant levels of grief following the death of a pet, then it is essential that this is recognised in the scientific literature so that mental health professionals can communicate with the public in an appropriate and accurate manner, and people who need and desire clinical care are afforded the opportunity to access it," it added.
Hyland emphasized the need to update current diagnostic guidelines, noting that grief over the loss of a pet can be serious and should be taken seriously by mental health professionals.
"The decision to exclude pet loss from the bereavement criterion for PGD can be viewed as not only scientifically misguided, but also as callous," he said.
