Resumen

VARGAS SOLANO, Rosa Elena. Duelo y pérdida. Med. leg. Costa Rica [online]. 2003, vol.20, n.2, pp.47-52. ISSN 2215-5287.

The way in which human beings expresses our grief has a strict relation with the culture we are immerged in - for example wearing black when mourning - , with the situation involving the departed, with the age of the deceased, or if that death was anticipated - for example in ill people - or if it was sudden - like in a violent death. But we do not only express our grief or mourning because of death, otherwise these symptoms are common in other events that signify some kind of loss. The manifestations and the symptoms with each people respond to this loss are different, this is the reason to consider grieving a syndrome. This syndrome may be established a few hours after the loss and can elapse from 6 to 12 months. When the symptoms do not disappear at the end of this time, or their characteristics are different to the expected, we can talk about the pathological grief, theme that we are treating in this essay.

Palabras clave : Grief; mourning; shame; loss; syndrome; duration; pathological grief; impact; reprieve; recuperation; immediate reincorporation.