GRIEF: the thoughts and feelings that are experienced within when one suffers a loss. It is the internal meaning given to the experience of loss and is unobservable.
MOURNING: the expression of grief. Mourning is
"public grief". This is the observable aspect of loss.
Natural Behaviors
Sleep disturbances
Appetite disturbances
Absent-minded behaviors
Exceptionally good behavior
Dreaming of the deceased
Avoiding reminders of the deceased
Searching and calling out
Sighing
Restlessness
Crying - sometimes over "small" events
Visiting places or carrying objects that remind the survivor of the deceased
Treasuring objects that belonged to the deceased
Easily irritated, low tolerance, anger outbursts
Withdrawing from others and activities
Natural Thought Responses
Disbelief
Confusion, bewilderment, disorganization
Preoccupation - obsessed with thoughts about the deceased
Sense of Presence - the grieving person may think or feel that the deceased is still present in time
and space
Hallucinations - (auditory/visual)
Spiritual confusion, alienation, rejection
Disillusionment, pessimistic thoughts
Magical thinking - thinking the loss was somehow brought about by the survivor's own thoughts or
actions
Natural Physical Sensations
Hollowness in the stomach
Tightness in the throat/chest
Headaches
Hypersensitivity to noise
A sense of depersonalization:
Shortness of breath
Weakness in the muscles
Lack of energy, fatigue
Lowered immunity
Natural Feelings
Sadness, sorrow, anguish
Anger, hostility
Guilt and self-reproach
Anxiety, fear of going "crazy"
Revenge, retaliation
Apathy
Helplessness, powerlessness
Shock, numbness
Yearning, loneliness, pining
Emancipation/relief
Ambivalence
