GRIEF & LOSS - HEALING

Grief is personal and individual, and every person experiences its nuances differently. Your personality, your support system, your natural coping mechanisms and many other things will determine how loss will affect you. There are no rules, no timetables, and no linear progression. Some people feel better after a few weeks or months, and for others it may take years. And in the midst of recovery there may be setbacks — this nonlinear process can’t be controlled. It’s critical that you treat yourself with patience and compassion and allow the process to unfold.

Grieving takes a toll on the body in the form of stress. Evidence suggests that immune cell function falls and inflammatory responses rise in people who are grieving. That may be why people often get sick more often and use more health care resources during this period.

But why is stress so hard on us? It's because the body unleashes a flood of stress hormones that can worsen many existing conditions (such as heart failure or diabetes) or lead to new ones (such as high blood pressure or heartburn). Stress can also cause insomnia and changes in appetite.

Extreme stress, the kind experienced after the loss of a loved one, is associated with changes in heart muscle cells or coronary blood vessels (or both) that prevent the left ventricle from contracting effectively — a condition called stress-induced cardiomyopathy or broken-heart syndrome. The symptoms are similar to those of a heart attack: chest pain and shortness of breath.

It’s normal to feel numb, angry, sad, or even depressed following a loss. But as time passes, those emotions should lessen in their severity. Suppose you aren’t feeling any better over time or are experiencing any of the following. In that case, you may be suffering from a condition called “complicated grief,” or you may be experiencing actual depression. If left untreated, complicated grief and depression can lead to significant health problems, emotional damage, and more.