What grief does to your body?

Grief is a deep depression, sadness, or sense of loss.  Typically, it occurs when a loved one passes away. However, it does not have to be connected to the loss of a person.  It can be connected to losing a pet, a job, or not having someone around for an important event.  Complicated grief is different than everyday grief or depression.  Complicated grief is typically when a person refuses to accept reality or tries to rewrite history.  It is pervasive and always present, whereas depression and uncomplicated grief come and go in waves, a person can continue to function in day-to-day life and maintain a sense of humor about things.

Grief can have a huge impact on a person both physically and emotionally.  Emotionally, grief is a state of depression, and it can bring anxiety and stress as well.  Because of the chemicals released when a person is experiencing grief, depression, anxiety, stress, the body is also affected.  Research has found that emotional pain activates the same regions of the brain that physical pain does, hence the release of chemicals or hormones from the brain and into the body.  The release of these hormones in quantities larger than normal impacts the body in ways we often do not think about or realize.

The physical impacts grief (usually extreme grief) can have on a person’s body include systemic inflammation and lowering how well the body responds to and handles stress.   When both of these are not working the way they are designed to or are supposed to, there is an increased risk of heat-related illness, including heart attack or stroke, and even death.  Extreme grief can exacerbate old physical issues or even cause new ones.

Grief batters the immune system, which can also leave a person open to ailments or illnesses, including an increase in blood pressure and an increased risk of blood clots.  There is also something called “broken heart syndrome,” which changes the heart muscle so much that a heart disease forms, and it mimics the symptoms of a heart attack.  This is typically experienced by someone who has lost a spouse.