Abstract: This study examined associations between the violence of a loss and the suddenness of a loss and symptom levels of prolonged grief disorder (PGD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after the death of a loved one. A further aim was to investigate whether peritraumatic distress (i.e., fear, helplessness, and horror) and peritraumatic dissociation mediate the emotional impact of violent losses and unexpected losses. We obtained self-reported data from 265 individuals bereaved in the previous 3 years by losses due to violent causes (17%) or illness (83%).