Grief’s Physical Symptoms Are Real. Here’s What You Can Do To Help

THURSDAY, Nov. 12, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Grief can ravage your mind, but science shows it can also weaken your body, leaving you more vulnerable to illness.

“As humans, we are strongly motivated to seek out social bonds that are warm, dependable, friendly and supportive,” explained George Slavich, who directs the Laboratory for Stress Assessment and Research at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.

“Losing someone close to us terminates that bond and the social and physical protection they provided, which historically could have put the body at an increased risk of physical danger,” he added in a UCLA article.

Much of that danger comes from a hypervigilant, but in some ways weakened, immune system.

As Slavich explained, after the loss of a loved one, your brain and body react as if they’ve lost a key line of defense. The immune system escalates its wound-healing capabilities (priming for potential threats) but at the same time lowers its guard against viruses.

That’s why folks are vulnerable to colds and flu when they’re hit by grief or other stressors, Slavich noted.

Bodily inflammatory responses also rise, he added, and that can lead to “feelings of sickness, fatigue, loss of pleasure and social and behavioral withdrawal.”

What Grief Can Feel Like

Grief can show up physically in ways people don’t always expect, wrote Heidi Horsley, a licensed psychologist and adjunct professor at Columbia University, in an article for Open to Hope, a podcast she co-hosts.

Grief can disrupt sleep, bringing insomnia or restless, broken nights. Some people lose their appetite while others overeat, and nausea or an upset stomach is common. 

Grief can also bring headaches, muscle tension, aches and weakness, along with exhaustion and a heavy feeling in the body. 

Some people notice tightness or aching in the chest, shortness of breath or a lump in the throat, and many find they get sick more often than usual.

“I remind grieving people that their body is grieving too,” Horsley wrote. “Loss lives in the chest, the stomach, the aching shoulders.”

Behind these symptoms is a lingering stress response, she explained. Stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline remain high, inflammation rises and the immune system responds less effectively to threats.

The heart may be especially vulnerable. Grief has been tied to higher blood pressure, a greater risk of heart attack and, in rare cases, “broken heart syndrome.”

For most people, symptoms are worst soon after the loss and fade gradually over the following months, Horsley noted. 

But a constellation of symptoms like these can linger if grief is deep and chronic. Anything past six months could be debilitating, according to Slavich, and the stress involved might even raise the odds for other health issues.

Horsley cautioned against brushing off physical symptoms as “just grief.” 

Anyone with chest pain, shortness of breath or another alarming symptom should get medical care promptly, she advised. Illness, fatigue or appetite changes that persist are also worth raising with a doctor.

Protect Yourself

There are five key steps you can take to shield yourself from the physical effects of grief, however:

• Try mindfulness. As people grieve, they often ruminate on the past or worry about the future. Practicing mindfulness helps people focus on the present and reduce stress.

• Reach out to family and friends. It’s natural when grieving to want to isolate yourself, but resist that urge. Instead, push yourself to spend time with supportive friends and family.

• Eat right. Added sugars and highly processed foods can boost harmful inflammation. Slavich advises a diet rich in lean proteins, fruit, vegetables, healthy oils and leafy greens.

• Sleep well. People working through grief often find sleep hard to come by. But a consistent sleep schedule is important for regulating your immune system. Trying cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia could help you get your slumber back on track.

• Exercise. Even if it feels tough to do while dealing with grief, staying active can help you stay slim and is often cited as a natural antidepressant.

The five steps listed above can help blunt grief’s effect on physical health, but Slavich urges people to set realistic goals.

“The most important thing is to begin with the strategy that you know you’ll actually follow through with,” he said.

Horsley also recommends that grieving people go easy on themselves.

“My strongest advice is to lower your expectations of yourself and cover the basics with intention,” she wrote. That can mean letting others pitch in with errands and meals, staying on any prescribed medications and eating something nourishing even when you’re not hungry.

It also means keeping routine medical appointments. 

Slavich stressed that your physician needs to know if you’re experiencing a serious stressor like grief. Your doctor can help you manage grief, but “if they don’t know what’s going on in your life, they won’t be able to help,” Slavich noted.

Caring for your body “is not a distraction from your grief — it is part of surviving it,” Horsley added.

More information

The National Institute on Aging has more on coping with grief.

SOURCES: University of California, Los Angeles, news release, Feb. 21, 2024; Open to Hope, Oct. 8, 2026