Title: How Grief Can Make You Sick | Everyday Health
Headings: How Grief Can Make You Sick
How Grief Can Make You Sick
Grief and Exhaustion
Difficulty Thinking Clearly
Sense of Being Alone
Depression and Substance Abuse
Heart Health and Immunity
Coping and Treatment
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Content: Difficulty Thinking Clearly
Cognitive effects of grief “can interfere with the ability to think clearly, to make decisions and judgments, and problem solve,” Shear says. Studies have associated bereavement with poorer memory performance and trouble concentrating. Sense of Being Alone
Grief is often accompanied by feelings of loneliness or isolation. Intrusive thoughts about one’s loss “can be debilitating and make a person feel like they're not  connected to the world or anyone around them,” says traumatic grief counselor Joanne Cacciatore, PhD, associate professor of social work at Arizona State University. People with prolonged grief disorder, also known as complicated grief, may experience “frequent insistent thoughts of the person who died, a sense of disbelief and difficulty feeling  connected to other people…and a range of difficulties related to emotion regulation,” Shear says. Depression and Substance Abuse
According to Mental Health America, a national advocacy group, prolonged grief can trigger anxiety attacks and depression. Research has found that about a quarter of people who lose their spouse experience clinical depression and anxiety in the first year. Bereavement has been associated with substance abuse, and research published in Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy specifically  found a greater risk of alcohol-related problems among bereaved men. Heart Health and Immunity
The emotional impact of grief is often described as “heartache” or “heartbreak,” but the release of stress hormones associated with grief can cause actual cardiac problems. “We know a fair amount about how stress affects the cardiovascular and immune systems, namely by activating both, and in vulnerable people this leads to increased rates of cardiovascular disease and cancer,” Shear says. “