Grief: the experience of the French in ten shocking figures
11% of bereaved people are likely to suffer from "prolonged grief disorder." This means that it lasts more than a year after a death and is characterized by nostalgia. Since 2022, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition, published by the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-5), has recognized "prolonged grief disorder." For the first time in France (questionnaire developed by Holly G. Prigerson), it is possible to assess its prevalence. In this case, 11% of bereaved people are likely to be affected.
"The 11% mentioned by the barometer must be put into perspective," says Caroline Witschger, family support coordinator and psychologist at Empreintes. "Around 80% of bereavements take place harmoniously. The challenge here is to identify and better understand this disorder in order to have objective data to adapt support systems."
The figures for prolonged grief disorder are even higher among those grieving the death of a spouse or child (22%). "The loss of a partner profoundly disrupts the daily life of the survivor, in all its dimensions – social, emotional, professional, and even health-wise," says Caroline Witschger. "The bereaved person must manage their own grief experience, mourn their relationship, their partner, and all shared projects." This is a major factor in fragility. When it comes to a single parent with children, the difficulty increases: "they must manage their emotional experience while supporting their child or teenager in their own grief," explains the psychologist. It is this dual role, particularly demanding, which undoubtedly contributes to the higher proportion of prolonged grief disorders in these contexts. How can we support a child or adolescent whose understanding of death and grieving process differs from that of an adult? Our role is to support the parent in their personal grief but also in their parenting through individual or family interviews and support groups for parents.
In this context, occupational risks are also present: job loss, work disruption, or temporary inability to resume normal activity. Added to this is the risk of isolation.
Increased substance use following bereavement
47% of grieving people have increased their consumption of medication, and 44% their consumption of alcohol or tobacco: "Taking medication or drinking alcohol are attempts to relieve an extremely intense and overwhelming emotional state," observes Caroline Witschger. "Medication can be useful, especially initially, but it is not enough on its own. Support aims to assist the person in a broader search for appeasement, by mobilizing other forms of resources, internal or external, to help them gradually regain balance."
Grief raises major public health issues. “These figures show the extent to which grief is not just a personal matter,” emphasizes Louis Dupuy-Ferber, advocacy officer for the Empreintes association. “I like to talk about grief as a ‘total social fact,’ in the words of sociologist Marcel Mauss, because it mobilizes all dimensions of collective life: psychological, familial, legal, economic, and political. Grief acts as a revealer and a symbol of social life as a whole.”
12% of bereaved workers had to leave their jobs because of this death
This proportion reaches 28% among people who have lost a child or grandchild, and nearly 20% among farmers, artisans, shopkeepers, or business owners, and/or single-parent families. "It's huge, and yet completely invisible," comments Louis Dupuy-Ferber. "We almost never talk about it. This overall figure of 12%, close to that observed in 2021, continues to surprise, given the strong taboo surrounding grief. It also raises the question of the length of leave granted in the event of the death of a loved one. Many people find themselves on sick leave, even though grief is not an illness. This creates confusion and masks a reality: many people counted as being on sick leave for medical reasons are actually there because they are experiencing pain related to the loss of a loved one. This silence perpetuates a collective misunderstanding and prevents us from recognizing the real needs of the bereaved."
Furthermore, the survey reveals that almost a third of workers were not informed by their employer of the number or nature of the leave to which they were entitled.
The Empreintes association advocates for the creation of a National Bereavement Observatory, in order to measure its real effects on health, social life and the economy, in order to design and implement appropriate policies.
SudOuest
