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Dec. 1, 2023
Grief and Health
Listen along as Stan and Clarence chat about the relationship between grief and health.
Join the conversation at healthchatterpodcast.com
Brought to you in support of Hue-MAN, who is Creating Healthy Communities through Innovative Partnerships.
More about their work can be found at http://huemanpartnership.org/
Research
Individual/Personal
Grief definition - Grief is the anguish experienced after a significant loss, usually the death of a beloved person.
Things that can cause grief outside of death otherwise known as “losses” → separations from loved ones, incapacitation, migration, relocation, job losses, birth of a baby, retirement, and professional loss.
Health effects of grief
- adults are at greater risk for a variety of adverse health consequences following bereavement
- predisposes people to physical and mental illness;
- precipitates illness and death;
- aggravates existing illness;
- brings on a host of bodily complaints and physical symptoms;
- leads to or exacerbates health-threatening behaviors such as smoking, drinking, and drug use;
- increases the use of health services
- Physiological responses to grief:
- neuroendocrine activation (cortisol response)
- altered sleep (electroencephalography changes)
- immune imbalance (reduced T-lymphocyte proliferation)
- inflammatory cell mobilization (neutrophils)
- prothrombotic response (platelet activation and increased vWF-ag)
- hemodynamic changes (heart rate and blood pressure)
- Different types of losses can feel more difficult to cope with
- research has shown that individuals who have lost their loved ones to natural disasters and outbreaks are more likely to experience devastating impacts on their overall health.
- Sudden death is frequently hypothesized to be more traumatic for the survivors and to lead to poorer outcomes than deaths that have been anticipated
Lessons learned from losing someone special
- Losing a loved one is painful, but there is a flip side to every coin. In this case: there is much to learn from those tough losses.
- Experiences that push the living to think about death and dying, like losing a loved one or receiving a terminal medical diagnosis, can have profound effects on the way you live your life.
- Grief teaches us that we should live every day creating memories that will comfort us after our loved ones are gone or we are gone.
- Losing a loved one can help you realize that life is short and you must live each moment to its fullest potential.
- “Take advantage of each day like it's the last day of your life, you never know when you will be right” - Patti LaBelle.
- There are some losses you will never stop grieving.
- Take an inventory of your life, and think about how you spend your time and who you spend it with. If you don't like the answer, change it, and don't wait for it to be too late.
Coping with grief to protect your health
- Reach out to your social circle
- While it can be painful to see people, it is important to maintain connections with others.
- Mind-body activities like yoga, tai chi, or qigong.
- Not only can these mind-body activities help you relax, but they can reverse the effects of stress and anxiety on a molecular level, according to a study in the June 2017 Frontiers in Immunology. In people who regularly engaged in these practices, researchers found less activity of genes that create inflammation in the body. Many classes are designed specifically for stress reduction. You can find these classes online or inquire at local yoga studios and community centers.
- Get moving.
- A simple daily walk can help ease depression, agitation, and sorrow related to grief. It is often difficult to find the energy to exercise, so if you lack motivation, enlist a workout buddy or join an exercise group.
- Be patient
- it can take months or even years to absorb a major loss and accept your changed life.
- Reach out to a professional when necessary
- If your grief seems like it is too much to bear, seek professional assistance to help work through your grief. It's a sign of strength, not weakness, to seek help.
Community/National/International Level
- Community
- George Floyd
- Each culture has its own traditions, rituals, and ways of expressing grief and mourning.
- Some communities may be exposed to grief/bereavement more than others:
- Black Americans killed at the hands of police across the nation - collective mourning for victims of police violence/brutality
- The medical community - doctors, nurses, and medical professionals that mourn the loss of their patients and repeatedly are exposed to those losses
- If someone you care about has lost a loved one, you can help them through the grieving process.
- Share the sorrow - Allow them — even encourage them — to talk about their feelings of loss and share memories of the deceased.
- Offer practical help - Baby-sitting, cooking and running errands are all ways to help someone who is in the midst of grieving.
- National
- The grief pandemic
- The scale and complexity of COVID-19 pandemic-related grief created a public health burden that could deplete Americans’ physical and mental health for years, leading to more depression, substance misuse, suicidal thinking, sleep disturbances, heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, and impaired immune function.
- research has shown that individuals who have lost their loved ones to natural disasters and outbreaks are more likely to experience devastating impacts on their overall health.
- International
- Global Mourning - Shared Grief that extends beyond borders
- Bereavement as a result of conflict or war
Acute/Chronic
- Chronic: About 10% of bereaved people experience complicated grief, a condition that makes it harder for some people to adapt to the loss of a loved one.
- Complicated grief is also called persistent complex bereavement disorder.
- Acute: can involve intense daily yearning to be reunited with the lost loved one, significant emotional pain
- Most at risk for negative physical health effects during this time
Mental Health and Grief
- About a quarter of widows and widowers will experience clinical depression and anxiety during the first year of bereavement
- Grief brain affects your memory, concentration, and cognition.
- Grief results in higher stress levels and weakens ability to cope with stressors
Sources
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK217850/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6857396/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3384441/
https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/how-to-overcome-griefs-health-damaging-effects
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