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- Title
"Is Grief a Disease?" Why Engel Posed the Question.
- Authors
Stroebe, Margaret
- Abstract
In 1961, George Engel (1913-1999), founder of the innovative general theory of illness and healing known as the biopsychosocial model, wrote a classic paper entitled "Is Grief a Disease? A Challenge for Medical Research." This article fuelled debate about the status of grief as a medical condition, with Engel's question frequently taken as the starting point. But what did Engel really say: Was he actually arguing that grief is a disease? Has his position been accurately represented? Given that grief complications are currently under research investigation for potential diagnostic categorization as a mental disorder, it seems timely to reassess Engel's historic contribution. I outline Engel's arguments and illustrate the ensuing impact and interpretations of his position. I end with a personal communication from Engel, in which he elaborated why he posed this question, his purpose in writing the article, and his reason for considering that his "provocative title misfired."
- Subjects
ADAPTABILITY (Personality); BEREAVEMENT; BIOLOGICAL psychiatry; MENTAL illness; CLASSIFICATION of mental disorders; MATHEMATICAL models of psychology; COMPLICATED grief
- Publication
Omega: Journal of Death & Dying, 2015, Vol 71, Issue 3, p272
- ISSN
0030-2228
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1177/0030222815575504