Is grieving a mental illness?

Should grieving for a loved one be considered clinical depression by psychiatrists?
An editorial in the Lancet, one of the world’s most influential medical journals, says no, according to Canada.com.
If “normal human grief” becomes classified as a mental illness – as a proposed revision to the manual governing psychiatry would – antidepressant drugs could be prescribed much more widely, the editorial points out.
If the proposal is adopted, “feelings of deep sadness, loss, sleeplessness, crying, inability to concentrate, tiredness and no appetite, which continue for more than two weeks after the death of a loved one, could be diagnosed as depression rather than as a normal grief reaction,” the editorial says.
Most people who go through the death of a loved one do not need treatment, the authors say.
But those in favour of the change tell Ms. Kirby that “it’s impossible in the short run to distinguish grief from depression unless the symptoms are severe – for example, if the bereaved person is suicidal, or falsely believes, ‘It’s my fault the person died,’ or if they’re markedly impaired and have had major depression before.”