Earlier this year, the American Psychiatric Association added a new disorder to the guidebook that clinicians use to diagnose mental health conditions, known as the DSM-5.It’s called “prolonged grief disorder” and is defined as “intense yearning or longing for the deceased (often with intense sorrow and emotional pain), and preoccupation with thoughts or memories of the
Rebecca Soffer co-founded Modern Loss after suddenly losing both of her parents over the course of a few years in her early thirties and being forced to navigate a society where she felt lost and helpless and no one she encountered seemed to know what to do or say to help.Since co-founding Modern Loss, she’s been trying to serve up a national and global conversation that will help others who are experiencing the trauma of grief. Her latest project is “The Modern Loss Handbook: An Interactive Guide to Moving Through Grief and Building Your Resilience”(Running Press). The book features accumulated and professional insight and advice, prompts to help develop coping strategies and hold on to memories, therapeutic-based exercises - and more.