Is Your Grieving Making you sick? Maintaining Your Own Health Through Grief
Audrey Pellicano R.N., M.S.

Chronic stress is the response to emotional pressure suffered for a prolonged period over which an individual perceives he or she has no control. Keyword here, perceive. You may not have had any control over the death of your spouse, how ever, you can regain control of your own health. And you must! You may or may not have children that depend on you but you do have a life beyond the grief.

Chronic psychological stress is associated with a greater risk of depression, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and upper respiratory infections. It is the chronic state of stress we are in, a constant state, which is known as “fight or flight”. Our body’s natural defense is inflammation, which, with chronic stress, is prolonged heightening the risk for disease.

Grief initiates the natural “fight or flight” response and sends the body into overdrive. Overdrive is helpful when there is an emergency or may have been helpful when woolly mammoths chased us. Instead of fleeing an emergency, our bodies are in a constant state of fighting without a direction, outlet or purpose. During the grief period, we are frequently overwhelmed and lost.
When we grieve, a flood of stress hormones is released. In recent publication’s the term ”broken heart syndrome” has been used to describe, what is medically known as, stress cardiomyopathy. The level of stress hormones in the blood can be two to three times higher than it is in those suffering from a classic heart attack. Overall, our immune systems become compromised.

So what can you do? Building your immune system is one of the most valuable gifts you can give you during the grieving process. This can be done through a combination of exercise, meditation,