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When does grief after losing a loved one continue for so long that it should be considered a mental disorder? After a lengthy period of controversy and research, both DSM-5-TR and ICD-11 have introduced a new category, “Prolonged grief disorder” (PGD), that allows for the diagnosis of a grief disorder in patients who are having substantial grief feelings after either one year (in DSM-5-TR) or six months (in ICD-11). Some reflections are made on various ways in which the definitions of these disorders may fail to reflect the complexity and variability of grief and thus mistake normal grief for a mental disorder. Then five arguments put forward by proponents to support the validity of the criteria for prolonged grief disorder are reviewed and it is argued that each of the arguments is seriously flawed. It is concluded that many doubts and problems remain, and the new category should be used with caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conclusions of two recent books that evaluate Freud's adamant defense of his Oedipal theory and its effects on modern family life are distilled. Logical reconstruction reveals four pivotal arguments Freud presents in the Little Hans case history to support Oedipal theory. Each argument is brilliant in logic but unsound when compared to the case evidence. Lacking confirmation, Oedipal theory remains an ad hoc attempt to save Freud's sexual theory of the neuroses after the failure of the seduction theory. Regarding the theory's effects, its acceptance changed family power relations in Hans's family and modern families by creating a sense of danger in mother/son physical affection. This led to reduced parent/child physical affection and separation of young children from parents especially at bedtime. The child's "suspect bed" of the anti-masturbation campaign is thus exchanged for the parents' "protected bed," serving the new marital ideal of sexual and emotional satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]