Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T07:36:46.840Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pathological Mourning after the Death of a Domestic Pet

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Kenneth M. G. Keddie
Kenneth M. G. Keddie*
Affiliation:
Sunnyside Royal Hospital, Montrose DD10 9JP
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Pathological bereavement reactions following the death of a close relative or friend have been well documented in the literature. Similar grief reactions have been described following other personal losses, such as the loss of a limb or the loss of one's home.

The cases of three women are described in whom pathological grief followed another category of loss, that represented by the death of a much loved domestic pet. The patients suffered disabling psychiatric symptoms following the death of their pet dogs. The dogs were all of the toy dog variety and had been at least 13 years of age at the time of their death. Institution of psychiatric treatment resulted in rapid recovery and at follow-up after a year there had been no recurrence of symptoms.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 131 , Issue 1 , July 1977 , pp. 21 - 25
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1977 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Batchelor, Ivor R. C. (1969) Henderson and Gillespie's Textbook of Psychiatry, 10th edition. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Caplan, G. (1964) Principles of Preventive Psychiatry. London: Tavistock.Google Scholar
Curran, D., Partridge, M. & Storey, P. (1976) Psychological Medicine: An Introduction to Psychiatry, 8th edition. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.Google Scholar
Fish, F. J. (1964) An Outline of Psychiatry for Students and Practitioners. Bristol: John Wright.Google Scholar
Freeman, H. L. & Kendrick, D. C. (1960) A case of cat phobia. British Medical Journal, ii, 497.Google Scholar
Fried, M. (1963) Grieving for a lost home. In The Urban Condition (ed. Duhl, L. J.), p 151. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Levinson, B. M. (1972) Pets and Human Development, p 105. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas.Google Scholar
Lorenz, K. Z. (1952) King Solomon's Ring, p 126. London: Methuen.Google Scholar
McHarg, M. et al (1976) Pets as a Social Phenomenon: A Study of Man—Pet Interactions in Urban Communities, p 14. Petcare Information and Advisory Service, 117 Collins Street, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Mayer-Gross, W., Slater, E. & Martin, R. (1969) Clinical Psychiatry, 3rd edition. London: Cassell.Google Scholar
Mugford, R. A. & M'Comisky, J. G. (1975) In Pet Animals and Society (ed. Anderson, R. S.), p 54. London: Baillière Tindall.Google Scholar
Parkes, C. M. (1964) Recent bereavement as a cause of mental illness. British Journal of Psychiatry, 110, 198.Google Scholar
Parkes, C. M. (1972a) Bereavement: Studies of Grief in Adult Life, p xi. New York: International Universities Press.Google Scholar
Parkes, C. M. (1972b) Ibid, p 183.Google Scholar
Sim, M. (1974) Guide to Psychiatry, 3rd edition. Edinburgh: Churchill-Livingstone.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.