About Symptoms Of Grief: Symptoms Of Grief

Learn how to identify the symptoms of grief and what can be done to overcome them. Dealing with grief can also lead to depression. Depression not only affects the person who is going through it, but also everyone around them, including friends, family, loved ones, spouses, and children.

Symptoms of grief

Grief can be defined as the feeling of sadness and sorrow caused as a result of the loss of a loved one' or the loss of a possession. These losses can range from the death of a loved one to the death of a pet to the loss of status. Such losses can initially shock the grief-stricken and most importantly make them grieve for a considerable period of time.

Grief is not at all a good experience' and anybody who experiences such a loss would grieve over it. But how exactly do we know whether the person is grieving? What would the grief-stricken feel during the aftermath of such loss? The answer for this lies right here in this article where it aims to highlight what the symptoms of grief are.

It should be understood that one’s feeling of grief is likely to differ from person to person' and this too changes from situation to situation depending on how important and close the lost person or thing was to the aggrieved (i.e. the relationship between the grief-stricken and the lost)' as well as the aggrieved person’s perception' way of coping' experiences and personality.

The expressions of grief can come in four main ways' which are:
Physical
Emotional
Social
Behavioral

Listed below are symptoms of grief that fall under each of the above mentioned categories:

Physical

Physical expressions of grief are those expressions that one would be able to see in a grief-stricken person.

• Crying
• Headaches
• Weakness
• Aches
• Loss of appetite
• Fatigue
• Diarrhea
• Dizziness / Faintish
• Sleeping problems or insomnia
• Change in sex drive
• Weight change
• Constipation
• Hyperactive or Underactive
• Nausea
• Restlessness
• Exhaustion
• Shortness of breath

Emotional

Emotional expressions of grief are those expressions which would be felt in the inside of the aggrieved. One’s emotional expressions of grief would be reflected physically as explained in the first point.

• Nostalgia
• Guilt
• Anxiety and panic stricken
• Frustration
• Sadness
• Apathy
• Fear
• Loneliness
• Relief
• Numbness
• Meaninglessness
• Feeling of hate and self blame

Social

Social expressions of grief are those actions and feelings and that could be seen in the grief-stricken when they move along with others in the society.

• Isolation
• Withdrawn and feelings of detachment
• Lack of interest
• Unfriendliness
• Lack of initiative
• Overly sensitive
• Dependent
• Other abnormal ways of behavior

Behavioral

These are some of the ways of behavior that could be apparent in a person who is grief-stricken.

• Dreaming of the dead or lost person
• Searching for the dead person
• Talking with the dead person
• Feeling of the loved one’s presence
• Forgetfulness
• Wandering aimlessly
• Slowness in thinking

However' things can go too far and cause serious symptoms such as the depression' thought of harming self and others (example : suicidal thoughts)' permanent disorders' insanity and trauma.

Summary – this article aims to highlight some of the main symptoms of grief that could be observed in the person who is struck by grief.