For countless pet owners across the UK, the profound sorrow felt after the death of a beloved animal companion is a deeply personal truth. Now, scientific research has validated that experience, confirming that the grief following pet loss can be as intense as mourning a human family member.
The Study: Measuring Grief in Britain
A team from Maynooth University, led by Professor Dr Philip Hyland from the Department of Psychology, sought to understand how pet bereavement compares to other forms of loss. They conducted a survey of 975 British adults, asking them to detail their experiences with different bereavements.
The results were revealing. While almost all participants had experienced the death of a person, nearly one third (32.6 per cent) had also gone through the loss of a pet. Strikingly, when asked to identify their most distressing bereavement, 21 per cent of people selected the death of their pet.
Prolonged Grief Disorder: Not Just for Human Loss
The core of the study focused on Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD), a psychiatric condition formally classified by the World Health Organisation in 2018. PGD is characterised by severe, persistent, and disabling grief that continues long after the loss.
Currently, diagnosis is only applicable following the death of a person. However, the Maynooth research, published in the journal PLOS One, found that 7.5 per cent of participants met the diagnostic requirements for PGD after losing a pet.
This figure is remarkably similar to rates observed after other significant human losses:
- Death of a close friend: 7.8 per cent
- Death of a family member (e.g., grandparent, aunt/uncle): 8.3 per cent
- Death of a sibling: 8.9 per cent
- Death of a partner: 9.1 per cent
Only the death of a parent (11.2 per cent) or a child (21.3 per cent) resulted in notably higher rates of PGD. The researchers stated unequivocally: 'People can experience clinically significant levels of PGD following the death of a pet.' They added that the symptoms manifest identically, regardless of the species of the deceased.
A Call for Change in Medical Recognition
Based on these compelling findings, Dr Hyland and his colleagues are advocating for a crucial change. They argue that the diagnostic criteria for Prolonged Grief Disorder should be formally extended to include the death of a pet.
Dr Hyland questioned the exclusion of pet loss from current medical guidelines, suggesting possible reasons. 'It is possible that the controversial nature of the diagnosis meant that the different working groups were reluctant to acknowledge that pet loss can lead to PGD for fear of being viewed as unserious,' he explained. Another reason may be a longstanding belief in the unique nature of human-to-human attachment.
'Whatever the reason,' Dr Hyland emphasised, 'it is important to test if people bereaved by the death of a pet can experience disordered grief in the manner it is now described in the psychiatric nomenclature.' The study concludes that the bond shared with a pet is for many a core familial relationship, and its loss deserves the same clinical recognition and understanding.
