The Physical Symptoms of Grief
Posted by: Ning in Grief Articles | September 9, 2020
If you've recently experienced the passing of a beloved family member, friend, or animal companion; you're well aware of the power grief has over your quality of life. In truth, nothing is more devastating to our physical well-being and psychological/emotional equilibrium than the death of a loved one. So much so, Larry Malerba, a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO), argues it's very likely "the most common 'natural' cause of chronic illness is unresolved grief".
What then is unresolved grief? While there is no clear timetable for the grief experience, unresolved grief is used to describe a grief experience which takes longer than what is common for a person's social or cultural background. In addition, Dr. Malerba tells his audience "this unprocessed grief is commonly a source of anxiety, irritability, depression, other emotional disturbances, and even mania and psychosis."
Certainly, anyone with unresolved grief has trouble taking care of daily responsibilities, and not just because of the emotional and mental effects of bereavement (such as disorientation, and a painful lack of capacity to initiate and maintain organized patterns of activity (Source: Maurice Lamm). Often this inability is the direct result of the discomforts of the physical effects of grief he or she is experiencing. But your grief doesn't need to be unresolved to bring with it a set of physical symptoms; anyone mourning the death of a loved one can manifest them at any stage of the grieving process.
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