Grief over the death of a pet can be as chronic as that for a human family member, according to new research published in PLOS One. The study of 975 UK adults found that 7.5% of people who had lost a pet met the diagnostic criteria for prolonged grief disorder (PGD), a rate comparable to that seen after the death of a close friend or grandparent.
PGD is a mental health condition characterised by intense longing, despair, difficulty socialising, and a sense that part of oneself has died. Currently, diagnosis is limited to those grieving a human loss, but the study's author, Professor Philip Hyland of Maynooth University, has called for guidelines to be expanded to include pets.
The survey found that about 20% of people who had experienced both a pet and human loss said the pet's death was worse. Symptoms of severe grief for a pet were identical to those for a human, with no difference in how people experienced the losses.
Professor Hyland described the results as 'consistent and compelling evidence' that pet grief is no less legitimate. He argued that excluding pet loss from PGD diagnosis is 'scientifically misguided' and 'callous', as it can mean a person meets all symptom and impairment requirements yet is ineligible solely because the deceased was not human.
The study estimated that one in 12 cases of PGD in the UK are caused by pet death, reflecting that around half of adults have pets and their lifespans are shorter. While PGD rates were higher for parents (11.2%) and children (21.3%), pet loss matched or neared rates for other family members.
