Grieving the death of a pet can be just as painful – and long-lasting – as mourning a human loved one, according to new research.
A study published in the academic journal PLOS One found that some people who lose a pet experience prolonged grief disorder (PGD), a serious mental health condition that can persist for months or even years.
PGD is currently only diagnosed following the death of a human, but the study’s author has called for clinical guidelines to be expanded to include pet loss, arguing that the psychological impact can be just as severe.
The research surveyed 975 adults in the United Kingdom and found that nearly one in three respondents had experienced the death of a pet. Among those people, 7.5% met the diagnostic criteria for PGD – a proportion comparable to people who had lost a close friend (7.8%). Rates of PGD following the death of a grandparent (8.3%), sibling (8.9%), or partner (9.1%) were only slightly higher.
Only people who had lost parents (11.2%) or children (21.3%) showed significantly higher rates of prolonged grief.
The survey also found that “just over one-in-five people who had lost a beloved pet and a person they were close to stated that the loss of their pet was most distressing.” And overall, the research estimates that one in 12 cases of prolonged grief disorder in the UK could be attributed to the death of a pet.
The study’s author, Philip Hyland, a professor of psychology at Maynooth University in Ireland, said the findings show that grief after losing a pet can be “clinically relevant” and mirrors the experience of human bereavement.
(euronews.)
