Speaker: Grief can rewire the brain, but healthy habits restore connections, aid healing
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LAS VEGAS— Grief, and particularly prolonged grief, can rewire the brain, but engaging in therapy, healthy habits and support systems can restore connections and aid the healing process, according to a speaker at BRAINWeek 2022.
“Grief therapy can be conceptualized as active work instead of passive work,” Michael R. Clark, MD, MPH, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, said during a presentation.
The course of normal grief, Clark said, can be described with a host of symptoms such as altered senses, somatic distress, need for distance from others, guilt, hostile reactions, emotional distress and preoccupation with objects, thoughts and locations related to the source of grief.
The traditional five stages of grief as defined by Kubler and Ross — denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance — are in play, and research has shown that these negative indicators peak roughly 6 months after the incident that triggers grief, he said.
However, Clark said, those who experience these indicators for longer than 6 months may be suffering from prolonged grief disorders, where detrimental biological processes begin to interfere with the recovery process. In the realm of affective neuroscience, mammals possess seven different neurological pathways that mediate basic emotions, grief among them.
Clark revealed that it is the seeking system, which is associated with reward-seeking behaviors, that guides other primary emotions and is disrupted when one experiences prolonged grief.
“Sustained and prolonged activation of the grief system leads to inhibition of reward-seeking systems,” Clark said. “[This] can lead to anhedonia, the inability to experience pleasure in things one found enjoyment in.”
Intensity and duration grief is associated with increased inflammatory biomarkers and elevated cortisol, with the number and depth of bereavements correlated to higher levels of inflammation, distress and dysfunction.
Clark further stated that learning skills related to emotional regulation is key to repairing damage wrought by grief, with previously learned or acquired coping skills also playing a part in healing. He noted that a person’s particular attachment style can affect the speed of the healing process as well.
Welling, he added, is an uncontrolled and rapid emotional response that most people have experienced at least once in their lives related to grief. While its onset may be embarrassing if experienced among peers, it is a healthy part of the grief resolution process.
Engaging in courses of therapy and finding emotional support systems within and without one’s family and friends are crucial to processing grief, as is finding comfort in rituals and routines that guide the grieving process, particularly those related to religion.
“What you’re trying to do is move through the world while accepting the reality,” Clark concluded. “You are expecting patients to engage in action. It’s a period of renewing oneself, doing the hard work and thinking about how you are better off, despite this hurt.”