Title: Grief and Stress - Consumer Health News | HealthDay
Headings: Grief and Stress
Grief and Stress
Chris Woolston
No easy death
Grieving as illness
References

Content: This loss may be especially stressful if family members have to make decisions about the way a loved one dies. A study conducted by researchers at the Oregon Health Sciences University found that families who had to make end-of-life decisions for dying patients faced immense stress after the patient died. In fact, the level of stress was about twice as high as that reported by families who lost their house in a fire. "When we experience a loss, a very ancient reaction is triggered in our brain: the fight or flight response," writes professor Elizabeth Harper Neeld in Seven Choices: Finding Daylight After Loss Shatters Your World. " When the bonds we have with others are disturbed, at some deep level we fear for our very survival...Our brain has stimulated us to take action, but since we cannot undo the loss, there is no action we can take. We are, therefore, held taut. This means that our bodies are under enormous stress." While most people gradually recover from profound grief, others become physically and emotionally overwhelmed.