What Happens To Your Body When You’re Grieving
Episode description
We have lots of expressions to describe the pain of loss—heartache, a broken heart, a punch in the gut. These aren’t just figures of speech: While grief is an emotional experience, it’s also a physical one. Studies show that grief can change your physiology, most dramatically in the cardiovascular and immune systems.
One staggering finding? A heart attack is 21 times more likely to happen in the 24 hours after the death of a loved one. And after the death of a parent, risk of ischemic heart disease rises by 41%, and risk of stroke increases by 30%.
Dr. Mary-Frances O’Connor has dedicated her career to understanding the physiology behind grief and grieving. She joins Host Flora Lichtman to discuss what she’s learned over the years, and her new book The Grieving Body.
Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.
Subscribe to this podcast. Follow our show on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Bluesky @scifri and sign up for our newsletters. Got a science question that’s keeping you up at night? Call us: 877-472-4374
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.