HOW DOES THE BRAIN COPE WITH LOSS?

RYAN O’SULLIVAN // CONTENT EDITOR

At one point or another in our life, we will be faced with loss. This could be the loss of a loved one, a friend, or a family pet. What comes shortly after this loss is the experience of grief or sorrow. As a person, it is natural to feel these emotions especially during such a moment in our life that carries as much weight as a death. On the scientific level, it may be important to know how our brain processes this loss and what release in our body may cause such feelings of depression or hopelessness.

When we start the grieving process, a group of neurochemicals and hormones begin to do a dance in and around our head. We begin to feel flooded with vibrant and powerful emotions. These chemicals find a way to disrupt certain hormones that control our appetite, how we sleep, and they may even cause us to feel fatigued or lazy. Overall, the process of when we first start to mourn causes our brains to want to completely shut down. Additionally, loss triggers an instinct in our body that comes back to our early days of surviving as humans and it even causes our fight or flight reflexes to activate. In this case to fight would be to face the grief head on and allow yourself to mourn whereas the flight would be to ignore these feelings of grief and try to disregard the onset of emotions. After the early stages of grief are over, we are left with stress in our brain that may reside for a long time – a stress that completely alters the way our brain has functioned anytime before the loss. However there are ways that may help us process this stress a little bit better. Writing our feelings down in a journal, meditating, seeking help, and finding ways to be creative all exercise your brain in ways that may make it easier in times where you may need closure. Prolonged grief disorder is rare in people who have recently lost someone important to them, but it can happen, so it is important to keep these exercises in mind.

If you feel that the grief you are encountering is too much, never be too afraid to ask for help. We are all certain to experience loss at one point in our life and it will forever change who we are and how our perspectives on life are altered. This does not have to be a negative change, it is okay to miss someone, but once it is all said and done, loss helps us mature and gain understanding of life.