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So the authors of the DSM invented a loophole, which became known as "the grief exception."3 They said that you are allowed to show the symptoms of depression and not be considered mentally ill in one circumstance and one circumstance only--if you have recently suffered the loss of somebody close to you. After you lose (say) a baby, or a sister, or a mother, you can show these symptoms for a year before you are classed as mentally ill. But if you continued to be profoundly distressed after this deadline, you will still be classified as having a mental disorder. As the years passed and different versions of the DSM were published, the time limit changed: it was slashed to three months, one month, and eventually just two weeks.