The invention of healthy grief: repercussions for the experience of bereaved parents

Abstract

The article aims to empirically verify the repercussions of the concept of healthy grief, identifying the effects of the medicalisation of grief on the experience of parents who have lost their children. To this end, it employs a qualitative and microsocial approach, with data collected through 33 semi-structured interviews. The data were analysed using content analysis techniques and revealed that the medical logic of apprehending grief is not imposed in a homogeneous manner, with the bereaved resisting the conception of their suffering exclusively through this lens.