A UK study found that some pet owners develop prolonged grief disorder after the death of a pet, with symptoms mirroring those seen after human bereavement.
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.
Prolonged grief disorder is characterised by intense longing for the deceased, deep despair, emotional numbness, difficulty socialising, and problems carrying out everyday tasks. People may also feel as though part of themselves has died.
A pain comparable to human loss
The research surveyed 975 adults in the United Kingdom and found that nearly one in three respondents had experienced the death of a pet.
"Many pet owners experience intense grief following the death of their pet," the paper notes, and that "many also report feelings of shame, embarrassment, and isolation as a result of expressing their grief for their deceased pet."
Among those people, 7.5 percent met the diagnostic criteria for PGD - a proportion comparable to people who had lost a close friend (7.8 percent). Rates of PGD following the death of a grandparent (8.3 percent), sibling (8.9 percent), or partner (9.1 percent) were only slightly higher.
Only people who had lost parents (11.2 percent) or children (21.3 percent) 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.
"Clinically relevant" grief
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.
"These results demonstrate that there is nothing unique or special about how PGD symptoms are experienced in relation to a human bereavement,” the study states.
He added that excluding pet loss from diagnostic criteria could leave some people without access to appropriate mental health support, even when they meet all other requirements for a diagnosis.
"The decision to exclude pet loss from the bereavement criterion for PGD can be viewed as not only scientifically misguided, but also as callous," Hyland said.
