Symptoms of Normal Grief

Adapted by Steve Summers from: 
Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy by J. W. Worden 
and Bereavement by C. M. Parks

The most normal and pervasive experience in grief is to fear that we're going crazy. Here's a list of other things that regularly affect those in grief. We share these to affirm your "normalcy."
But please understand that these symptoms of normal grief may also be warning signs of heart attack or other medical problems. As the tee shirt says: “Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean that you aren’t out to get me.”  Evaluate accordingly.

BEHAVIORS
Absent minded behavior
Appetite disturbances
Avoiding any reminders of the departed
Avoiding places that remind one of the departed
Carrying objects that belonged to the departed
Crying
Restless over-activity
Searching and calling out
Sighing
Sleep disturbances
Social withdrawal
Taking on mannerisms of the departed
Treasuring mementos from the departed 
Unable to initiate or maintain routine activities
Visiting places that remind one of the departed

FEELINGS
Abandonment
Anger 
Anxiety
Emancipation
Fear
Guilt and self-reproach
Helplessness
Hopelessness
Loneliness
Loss of control
Numbness
Relief
Sadness
Shock
Yearning

MENTAL AFFECTS
Confusion
Disbelief
Dreams of the departed
Inability to concentrate
Preoccupation with what’s been lost
Sense of going crazy
Sense of lost one’s presence
Visual and auditory hallucinations

PHYSICAL AFFECTS
Breathlessness 
Dry mouth 
Gastro-intestinal disturbances
Heart palpitations
Hollowness in the stomach
Lack of energy 
Loss of sexual desire
Oversensitivity to noise
Sense that nothing is real
Tightness in the chest
Tightness in the throat
Weakness and/or tension in muscles


See also our Grief entry.