Traumatic Loss, Complicated Grief, and Terrorism

Abstract

The experience of losing loved ones is an inevitable outcome of acts of terror. In assessing mental health outcomes in survivors of such acts, researchers have frequently not measured the distress of bereavement even when losses occur. This article defines current concepts of complicated and traumatic grief and reviews the progress researchers have made in measuring the full extent of distress caused by violent and traumatic events. The authors suggest that measurement of complicated and traumatic grief must be included in research and assessment protocols within cultural contexts in order to develop successful treatments for survivors of terrorist acts.