Medically reviewed by Nicole Washington, DO, MPH — Written by Traci Pedersen — Updated on May 6, 2022
Grief can make you feel forgetful, spacey, and unable to express your thoughts. These effects are likely temporary.
Losing a loved one is a natural and universal life event, but that does not make it any easier. The death of those close to us is one of the greatest stressors we face as humans.
Grief impacts us emotionally and physically. The intensity of this loss can lead to a symptom known as grief brain. When this happens, you may find yourself having trouble sleeping, concentrating, and remembering simple things.
This symptom is a typical part of grief. For most people, it goes away by itself over time.
What is grief brain?
Grief can rewire our brain in a way that worsens memory, cognition, and concentration. You might feel spacey, forgetful, or unable to make “good” decisions. It might also be difficult to speak or express yourself.
These effects are known as grief brain.
Acute grief refers to the symptoms a person experiences during the first 6 months after losing a loved one. These are usually the most intense.
Your days may involve a mixture of yearning and sadness along with constant thoughts, memories, and images of the loved one. Small tasks can feel overwhelming and exhausting.
In a typical grieving process, these symptoms tend to decrease over time. You’ll notice sharper thoughts and clearer memories coming back.
Everyone is different, and for some, grief lasts a little longer. If symptoms last longer than 12 months, it may be diagnosed as prolonged grief disorder.
The longer that intense symptoms last, the greater the chance of developing longer-term changes in your brain and body. Grief can also affect your immune system, heart, and brain.
What are the effects of grief on the brain?
The brain reacts to grief or emotional trauma in the same way it handles stress.
Although low levels of stress can be a good thing, chronic stress is not. Grief that lasts for weeks, months, or longer can push the body into a state of chronic stress.
Chronic stress puts the brain into long-term survival mode. This means:
Fight-or-flight hormones are released.
Your heart rate increases.
Blood flows to the more emotional and fear-based parts of your brain instead of the higher thinking regions.
Your prefrontal cortex, which is an area of the brain highly involved in decision-making, becomes less active. At the same time, your limbic system, which is all about survival, takes over.
Depending on the severity (strength) of the emotional response, the brain starts to rewire its regular nerve connections and create new pathways. In other words, more emotional and fear-based thoughts start to replace your long-held beliefs about the world.
Constant reminders of the loved one’s passing, like their favorite shirt or TV show, continue to trigger the stress response and make these new pathways stronger.
Over time, grief can affect:
attention
memory
decision-making
the ability to choose words and express yourself with the right language
information processing speed
cognitive functions that rely on movement and depth perception
