We often think of grief as primarily emotional, but grief is a full-body, full-mind experience. You’re not just missing the one you’ve lost; your entire physiological system is reacting, too. Studies in neurobiology show that losing someone close to us changes our biochemistry: there are actual physical reasons for your insomnia, your exhaustion, and your racing heart.1 Respiration, heart rate, and nervous system responses are all partially regulated by close contact with familiar people and animals; these brain functions are all deeply affected when you’ve lost someone close.
