The loss of a pet can cause severe and prolonged grief

The loss of a pet can lead to prolonged grief disorder in a person, comparable in severity to the loss of a close human being.

Prolonged grief disorder is a mental condition that can last for months or even years. It is accompanied by intense longing, a sense of losing part of oneself, apathy, social isolation, and difficulties in everyday life.

The study is based on a survey of 975 adults in the United Kingdom. It found that 7.5% of people who lost a pet met the clinical criteria for prolonged grief disorder. This rate was approximately the same as among people who lost a close friend and only slightly lower than after the loss of a sibling or partner.

Higher rates of the disorder were recorded only after the death of parents (11.2%) and children (21.3%). At the same time, about 20% of respondents who had experienced the loss of both a person and an animal admitted that the loss of a pet was harder for them.

The authors of the study emphasize that, despite the widespread belief that “grief over an animal is something less serious,” the psychological manifestations of such grief fully coincide with reactions to the death of a person.

The head of the study, Professor of Psychology at Maynooth University (Ireland) Philip Hyland, stated that the findings call existing diagnostic approaches into question. According to him, current clinical guidelines do not allow a diagnosis of prolonged grief disorder after the death of an animal, which he described as scientifically unfounded and insensitive to people’s real experiences.

Hyland stressed that excluding pet loss from diagnostic criteria does not reflect psychological or evolutionary reality and requires revision.