Medicalizing Pet Grief

Propose and track the policy question of whether Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) and related psychiatric diagnoses should include bereavement for companion animals. This covers diagnostic‑manual changes, insurance coverage for grief therapy, thresholds for clinical intervention versus normal mourning, and possible social consequences (pathologization, stigma, resource diversion). — Extending clinical diagnoses to pet bereavement would reshape mental‑health practice, budgetary priorities, workplace bereavement policy, and cultural norms about what counts as legitimate suffering, making it a consequential public debate.