Psykologiens rolle i medikaliseringen av sorg

Grief following death is a phenonomen with profound psychological implications. On the one side grief is an individual and mostly painful experience, on the other side grief is a condition of human life and as such embedded in historical, social and cultural normative practices. From Sigmund Freud's ideas on grief work and onwards, various theories and practices have been introduced within the world of psychology. The history of the psychology of grief in current years cannot be understood without considering the history of the psychiatry of grief and thereby the idea of grief as potential psychopathology. Grief is now being looked at through the eyes of the medical profession with a shift in rhetorics as a consequence. In this article we will discuss the role of psychology in this transition and discuss the need for a position for psychology, not only being subordinated to the medical profession.