The Grieving Body

Dr Mary-Frances O'Connor

In her new book, ‘The Grieving Body: how the stress of loss can be an opportunity for healing’, renowned neuroscientist, psychologist and grief expert Dr Mary Frances O’Connor focuses on how life’s major stressors, including grief, impact the human body.

Whilst we often think about the emotional and psychological impact of grief and bereavement, its effects on the physical body are often overlooked. In this fascinating book, Mary-Frances delves into the research around this subject and explores the different ways that major life changes, such as a bereavement, can compromise things like our immune system and our heart health.

The Grieving Body is a welcome follow on from Mary Frances O’Connor’s previous book, ‘The Grieving Brain’, which looked at how cutting-edge neuroscience has enabled neuroscientists to study brain activity and to discover which regions of the brain are most active in certain social and emotional situations, including death and bereavement.

About the Author

Mary-Frances O’Connor is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Arizona in the USA, where she directs the Grief, Loss, and Social Stress (GLASS) lab in investigating the effects of grief on the brain and body.