Grief can cause a variety of effects on the body including increased inflammation, joint pain, headaches, and digestive problems. It can also lower your immunity, making you more susceptible to illness. Grief also can contribute to cardiovascular problems, difficulty sleeping, and unhealthy coping mechanisms.
It's physically exhausting to grieve, so give your body the time it needs to rest, as your body may feel fragile and tired. According to psychologist Catherine M. Sanders, PhD, bereaved people can get so weak that they can actually feel like they have the flu.
Grief increases inflammation, which can worsen health problems you already have and cause new ones. It batters the immune system, leaving you depleted and vulnerable to infection. The heartbreak of grief can increase blood pressure and the risk of blood clots.
The effect on mind and body
Most people experience acute grief, which occurs in the first six to 12 months after a loss and gradually resolves. Some, however, experience persistent grief, which is defined as grief that lasts longer than 12 months.
Intense sorrow, pain and rumination over the loss of your loved one. Focus on little else but your loved one's death. Extreme focus on reminders of the loved one or excessive avoidance of reminders. Intense and persistent longing or pining for the deceased.
Depression: Sadness sets in as you begin to understand the loss and its effect on your life. Signs of depression include crying, sleep issues, and a decreased appetite. You may feel overwhelmed, regretful, and lonely. Acceptance: In this final stage of grief, you accept the reality of your loss.
Grief is a natural reaction to the death of someone important to you. It's common for grief to cause physical symptoms. But you may find it frightening if you do not know why you're having these symptoms. And you might be worried that you have an undiagnosed health problem, or that grief is making you ill.
Often the second year is the hardest as that's when the real grief work might begin. This is the time when you may be ready to face your grief head on and deal with any issues that are holding you back. If you're not ready yet though, don't feel guilty. There is no deadline and everyone grieves in their own time.
But, the feelings often do not go away after the situation has passed. These emotions become emotional information which stays in our bodies as trauma. So, where are these negative emotions in our bodies? Emotional information is stored through “packages” in our organs, tissues, skin, and muscles.
Grief overload is what you feel when you experience too many significant losses all at once or in a relatively short period of time. The grief of loss overload is different from typical grief because it is emanating from more than one loss and because it is jumbled.
Your digestive tract is a sensitive ecosystem, so it's not surprising that stomach troubles are frequently paired with grief. Loss of appetite, nausea and binge eating are among the most common issues faced by people who are grieving. Not surprisingly, these behaviors can also facilitate weight loss and/or gain.
The burnout we experience is the mental, emotional, and physical impacts of ~ rocketing ~ through those challenging times. And in a year when our grief is so front-of mind, constantly shifting, constantly being piled on top of, and just present, grief burnout is real.
One common characteristic of grief is exhaustion. If you are newly bereaved, you may be feeling more tired than usual. You may feel so tired that you think you may have the flu as the only other time you have experienced this weakened state is when you have been ill.
It's the body saying "I'm hurt." These physical symptoms of grief are just like the symptoms of a cold (a sore throat and runny nose) telling your body that it needs special attention.
Masked grief is grief that the person experiencing the grief does not say they have –– or that they mask. This can be common among men, or in society and cultures in which there are rules that dictate how you must act, or appear following the loss of someone close to you.
“The sympathetic nervous system,” Anolik adds, "triggers the so-called 'fight-or-flight' response, which can lead to dull, dry skin without the same resilience or elasticity, more visible lines, pink blotches, possibly even sagging if the time period of grief is extended." Lack of sleep may also reduce your skin's ...
Depression
This is the longest stage because people can linger in it for months, if not years. Depression can cause feelings of helplessness, sadness, and lack of enthusiasm.
They might close their eyes frequently or they might be half-open. Facial muscles may relax and the jaw can drop. Skin can become very pale. Breathing can alternate between loud rasping breaths and quiet breathing.
Your emotions or feelings from grief may include shock, numbness, sadness, denial, despair, and/or anger. You might experience anxiety or depression. You can also feel guilty, relieved, or helpless.