What is grief? Basically, it's our reaction to a loss of any kind: the loss of a job, a divorce, the ending of a friendship, and of course, the death of someone dear to us. When describing "grief", perhaps the American Institute of Stress said it best: "Grief is intense and multifaceted, affecting our emotions, or bodies and our lives" (Source: American Institute of Stress).

The Connection between Grief and Stress

There are, according to William Worden, four "tasks" in mourning a loss. Your grief work is done when you have:

1. Accepted the reality of the loss
2. Fully experienced the changing 'pains' of grief
3. Successfully adjusted to your changed environment
4. Reinvested in life and in new relationships

Each task brings with it varying levels of stress. In truth, you could say grief is stress. It's a process involving those four tasks, and each task presents physical, mental, spiritual and emotional challenges. It calls into question our fundamental beliefs about ourselves and our world. It shakes us to our very foundations, and we're called upon to reinvent, and reinvest in, ourselves. Talk about stress!