Alternative Names grieving, mourning, bereavement, loss
Definition
Grief is a normal, usually painful, emotional response to a loss. Unlike depression, normal grief usually goes away in a reasonable amount of time. Grief is often accompanied by psychological, physiologic and behavioral reactions to an irretrievable loss.
What is the information for this topic?
Grief is an emotional reaction to a loss of some type. Mourning is the psychological process that individuals go through to cope with loss.
Grief can result from:
loss of a significant person. This can be either through death or the ending of a relationship.
changes in health or physical functioning, such as receiving a diagnosis of a chronic disease or losing the ability to walk.
change in physical appearance, such as loss of a body part or severe scarring.
loss of status, such as loss of a job.
Typically, people go through three stages of grief and mourning after a loss. Most people go through these stages in order. However, it is not unusual for people to experience them in a different order or go through a stage more than once.
Stage one involves shock and disbelief can be characterized by come combination of:
numbness
throat tightness
crying
sighing
abdominal emptiness
sense of unreality
denial and disbelief
Stage two involves preoccupation with the loss and is characterized by:
Stage three involves resolution and is characterized by:
pleasurable thoughts about the past
regained interest in daily activity
ability to form new relationships or roles
Some people can experience and resolve grief quickly. Others grieve a significant loss for years. It is not abnormal for people who have lost a spouse or child to feel grief on and off for the rest of their lives. Cultural differences also play a part in how people grieve. In the case of a death or broken relationship, the length and intensity of a person's grief generally depends on the closeness of the relationship to the person who is lost. The grief and pain created by the loss of someone very close will probably never be completely absent. It is realistic to expect that in time, the intensity, duration and frequency of the painful feelings will lessen.
Grief and depression share many similar characteristics. These include:
sadness
crying
withdrawal
inability to sleep well
loss of interest in activities
Important distinctions between grief and depression ned to be recognized. Depression tends to be constant and long lasting. Grief, in contrast, is often described as coming in "waves" and then subsiding for a while. Shame, feelings of worthlessness and low self-esteem are not a major part of grief, and generally, a person with normal grief does not experience the complete sense of hopelessness that is characteristic of depression.
Normal grief is not associated with suicidal thoughts or significant weight loss.
Author: Ann Reyes, Ph.D. Date Written: 10/11/99 Medical Review: Harold Koenig, MD Date Written: 9/13/2006 Reviewer: Reginald Finger, MD Date Reviewed: 9/13/2006
Contributors
Potential conflict of interest information for reviewers available on request
