Bereaved individuals experiencing masked grief reactions are characterized by which description?

• A. They experience symptoms and behaviors that are difficult to attribute to the loss
• B. They have postponed or suppressed grief reactions for various reasons
• C. They experience a prolonged grief reaction with no closure
• D. They experience an intensification of normal grief reactions

Answer: (A)

Masked grief shows up when the person experiences symptoms or behaviors that aren’t obviously linked to the loss, so the mourning is hidden. In this pattern, the bereaved might have somatic complaints, sleep problems, anxiety, irritability, or even risky or compulsive behaviors that mask the underlying grief. Because the grief isn’t readily attributed to the death, others may miss that mourning is the driving force behind these symptoms.

The other patterns describe different processes: delaying or suppressing grief refers to postponing the mourning altogether or pushing it away for various reasons; prolonged grief involves enduring, ongoing distress and longing over a long period with difficulty moving on; and an intensified reaction is a stronger-than-usual grief response that remains recognizable as grief.