The evaluation of the damage to the health resulting from mourning in minors and adults: Matters of method

Abstract

In the complex area of the assessment of the damage to the person to the expert psychologist, psychiatrist and coroner, it may have requested an assessment of the damage from mourning occurred in reference to the relatives of a victim of an ominous event. The loss of a loved person is, in fact, an event with high psycho-physical potential; it is not rare, therefore, that the process of mourning becomes particularly complex, with the risks that from “normal” becomes “pathological”, with relevant consequences in terms of quality of life. The sentence n. 372/94 Constitutional Court, for the first time, recognizes the indemnity of the mourning grievance in its own right, subject to specialist medical examination. In this context the contribution of the forensic psychologist is valuable, who, as a consultant, psychodiagnost, auxiliary consultant, covert, can contribute to illustrate the variegated world of the alterations of the psychic sphere and then help to establish the appropriate placement in the context of psychic damage. The present paper investigates the complexity aspects inherent in the evaluation process of this particular profile of psychic damage and, examining the contributions of some authoritative experts in the field, tries to outline a possible methodology of investigation for psychologists and forensic psychiatrists, which establishes the assumptions of a correct approach to the problem.