Shock and Numbness: This phase immediately follows a loss to death. In order to emotionally survive the initial shock of the loss, the grieving person feels numb and shut down.
We all expect to feel sad when someone dies. But feeling numb after death is actually very common. If it's something you're experiencing, you're not alone.
It is not uncommon to experience numbness during grief: emotionally blank and disconnected from the world around you. Many people who go through this worry that they are not properly processing their emotions, or they feel guilty because they are unable to cry or otherwise show an emotional response to their loss.
Denial is the first stage of the grieving process. It is usually characterized by a feeling of numbness and disbelief. In this stage, people may refuse to believe that their loved one has died or they may try to block out the reality of the situation.
The 7 Stages of Grief
Stage 1: Shock – A feeling of being paralyzed and almost emotionless. Your body can't find a way to process what just happened.
Inhibited grieving can look like:
Staying busy. Pushing emotions away. Isolating the self from anything that reminds you of the grief.
A Swiss American psychiatrist and pioneer of studies on dying people, Kübler-Ross wrote “On Death and Dying,” the 1969 book in which she proposed the patient-focused, death-adjustment pattern, the “Five Stages of Grief.” Those stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
Shock, denial or disbelief.
It is natural for our minds to try to protect us from pain, so following a loss some people may find that they feel quite numb about what has happened. Shock provides emotional protection from becoming overwhelmed, especially during the early stages of grief, and it can last a long time.
There is no timeline for how long grief lasts, or how you should feel after a particular time. After 12 months it may still feel as if everything happened yesterday, or it may feel like it all happened a lifetime ago. These are some of the feelings you might have when you are coping with grief longer-term.
There is no set length or duration for grief, and it may come and go in waves. However, according to 2020 research , people who experience common grief may experience improvements in symptoms after about 6 months, but the symptoms largely resolve in about 1 to 2 years.
Emotional numbness is typically an unconscious protective response to feeling difficult emotions, whether due to anxiety, stress or trauma. Chronic and acute trauma can trigger a stress response that swamps the system and triggers a state of collapse, including emotional numbness.
Emotional numbness may limit your ability to both express and experience emotions and may cause you to feel disconnected from the world (Flack et al., 2000). These feelings can be present in many psychiatric conditions including depression, schizophrenia, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The heartbreak of grief can increase blood pressure and the risk of blood clots. Intense grief can alter the heart muscle so much that it causes "broken heart syndrome," a form of heart disease with the same symptoms as a heart attack. Stress links the emotional and physical aspects of grief.
As the study mentioned above indicates, many people experience the “peak” of grief at about 4-6 months. It is not unusual to feel better in some ways at 6-8 weeks as you come to terms with the new reality, but also still feel very intense emotions over the next several months as you continue to process.
Grief or bereavement releases the hormone cortisol in reaction to stress that breaks down tissue and, in excess, can lead to collagen breakdown and accelerated aging. High cortisol levels prompt the skin's sebaceous glands to release more sebum. This in turn results in clogged pores, inflammation, and an increase in p.
According to Kisa Gotami, the greatest grief of life is the death of loved ones and one's inability to stop them from dying. So, instead of lamenting on it, the wise shouldn't grieve. Grief will only increase the pain and disturb the peace of mind of a person.
Grief can affect us not only mentally but physically as well. While grief is most often linked to emotional sadness, the stress and anxiety associated with loss can provoke physical symptoms ranging from chronic pain to fatigue. In extreme cases, stress can overtax the heart.
The death of a loved one who was a meaningful part of your life can absolutely lead to significant shifts in your personality, which may include changes in your thought processes, priorities, motivating factors, and emotional patterns.
Mental changes
As death nears, you may start to see or hear things that no one else does. You may also become agitated, or be more or less alert at different times. This is known as delirium. Your caregiver will tell a doctor or hospice palliative care worker if you're having delirium.
Your loved one may become restless and pull on bed linens or clothing, hallucinate, or even try to get out of bed, due to less oxygen reaching their brain. Repetitive, restless movements may also indicate something is unresolved or unfinished in the person's mind.
in the last 6 to 12 months before death, people with a pro- gressive, debilitating disease commonly experience certain physical symptoms. many people, as they approach the end of life, will become less active and experience chronic fatigue or weakness. Weight loss and diminished appetite are also common.