Understanding and Managing Grief, February 25 - March 2, 2024

Best selections from Grief Healing's X feed this week:

Losing a parent is devastating. Losing both in a short time creates a unique set of emotional and practical challenges. Navigating grief can be overwhelming, especially when dealing with the Social Security system. Financial planner J.C. Corrigan, CFP® shares his experience so that others might avoid similar issues. Navigating Grief and Benefits When Both Parents Die « Advisor Perspectives

My second child, Ben, was stillborn at full term on New Year’s Eve 2003. It was an out-of-the-blue, devastating shock that started my indoctrination into living with grief — and other people’s opinions of how I should live my life with grief. When My Baby Died, I Was Shocked By What People Told Me. This Is The 1 Sentence I Wish They'd Said Instead. « HuffPost

The stories we gathered in our research were raw, complex and often fraught. They did not sit comfortably with commonsense understandings of how grief “should” progress. We talked to dozens of people about their experience of grief. Here’s what we learned (and how it’s different from what you might think) « The Conversation

Of course grief can ravage your mind, but science shows it can also weaken your body, leaving you open to illness. "Losing someone close to us terminates that bond and the social and physical protection they provided, which historically could have put the body at an increased risk of physical danger." Much of that danger comes from a hypervigilant, but in some ways weakened, immune system. Grief affects the body, not just the mind « Medical Xpress

Why does it hurt so much to lose someone you love? What happens in your brain as it strives to cope? Pioneering psychologist Mary-Frances O’Connor worked on one of the first neuroimaging studies of grief more than two decades ago. She and her colleagues found that a loved one’s absence means a major disruption not only to our life but also within our brain. Grief Is A Learning Experience « Scientific American

My grandfather’s passing was the first in an unfortunate series of family deaths with two more —  my uncle and grandmother — in the months to follow. Having these losses pile on top of one another made it impossible to grieve each person individually and to acknowledge the different ways in which each impacted me. Throughout the grieving process, the hardest part was the physical distance between myself and my family, as I couldn’t properly turn to them or be there for them. Navigating grief as college students « The Daily Texan

I lost my mom six weeks ago. We had a distant and strange relationship my entire life as she favored my brother and made no qualms about showing it financially and otherwise. During my childhood there was much conflict in the house and she didn't protect me from it and wasn't remorseful . . . As an adult I had to come to terms with the fact that mom did the best she could in life with what she had to work with and loved me as best she could. In the last few years I learned to meet her on her terms and accept the level of love she could offer me. In Grief: The Gift of Forgiveness « Grief Healing

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’s model of grief has become by far the most well-known, commonly cited paradigm for grieving, but the widespread acceptance by the public has been riddled with misinformation. Throughout the years, grief theories have evolved just as the general public perception of grief has changed as well. In recent years, more and more people are calling to recognize the wide variety in grieving and move away from formulaic prescriptions of what normal grieving looks like. Our ideas about grief have become more expansive, giving us different language to articulate the meaning of loss. Beyond the Five Stages: Grief Theories in the Modern Age « SevenPonds Blog

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