Healing From Grief & Loss | Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor

271 snips

Jun 2, 2025

In this discussion, Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor, a leading expert in grief, delves into the brain’s response to loss and the critical role of emotions like guilt and anger. She explains the danger of getting stuck in grief and shares strategies for honoring memories while moving forward. The conversation highlights how grief can affect physical health and the importance of community support. O'Connor emphasizes the complexities of love intertwined with loss, promoting self-compassion and resilience as key elements in the healing journey.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

00:00 / 00:00

Grief vs Grieving Explained

Grief is the natural physical and emotional response to loss involving both grief and grieving.
Grieving is a process of learning to live with the loss over time, with grief waves surfacing even decades later.

00:00 / 00:00

Brain's Dilemma with Death

Absence making the heart grow fonder reflects attachment and the belief loved ones will always be there.
Death creates conflict in the brain between knowing they're gone and feeling they're everlasting, triggering grief waves.

00:00 / 00:00

Lived Experience of Long-Term Grief

Mary-Frances lost her mother after a long illness, experiencing changing emotions and evolving internal relationship.
Over time, she transformed anger into forgiveness and gratitude, integrating loss into her daily life.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Protocols: An Operating Manual for the Human Body

Andrew Huberman

Protocols provides simple, powerful, and evidence-based solutions to life’s most common challenges. Designed to improve your mental health, physical health, and performance, these guidelines are customizable, allowing you to adapt them to your specific needs. With his clear and engaging style, Dr. Huberman explains the scientific principles behind each protocol and how they can deliver immediate, effective results. Protocols is your essential road map for achieving optimal health.

The Secret Pulse of Time

Making Sense of Life's Scarcest Commodity

Stefan Klein

In 'The Secret Pulse of Time', Stefan Klein delves into the mysteries of time perception, exploring how our experiences and cultural backgrounds shape our understanding of time. The book offers insights into neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy, along with practical strategies for mastering time and achieving a better work-life balance.

The Grieving Body

How the Stress of Loss Can Be an Opportunity for Healing

Mary-Frances O'Connor

In *The Grieving Body*, Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor delves into the physiological effects of grief, exploring its impact on the cardiovascular, endocrine, and immune systems. The book combines scientific research with personal stories to provide a comprehensive understanding of how bereavement affects physical health and offers pathways for healing. It addresses questions such as the physical effects of grief, how coping behaviors influence health, and why stress increases susceptibility to illness.

The Denial of Death

Ernest Becker

In 'The Denial of Death', Ernest Becker discusses the psychological and philosophical implications of how people and cultures react to the concept of death. He argues that human civilization is a defense mechanism against the knowledge of our mortality, and that this denial is a necessary component of functioning in the world. Becker's work challenges traditional Freudian thought by positing that the primary repression is not sexuality, but rather the awareness of death. He also explores how this fear of death leads to the creation of 'hero systems' and symbols that help individuals transcend their mortality, and how this can result in violence and conflict when different immortality projects clash[2][5][4].