Common Symptoms and Descriptions of Grief

 This list was comprised by Judy Davis, LCSW.  These are words grieving people commonly use to describe how they feel.

Anger
Backache
Dry mouth
Fear of dreaming
Disloyal for not remembering
Exhaustion
Irrational unexpressed guilt
Free floating fear
Hollow feelings
Malaise
Hearing the child
Anxiety attacks
Life’s not fair
Irreplaceable loss
Frequent urination
Different
Lost
Over/under eating
Responsible
Crying
Lonely
Punished
Closed down
Frightened
Despair
Helpless
Unfair
Not knowing what to do
Excessive sleeping
Unreal
Panic
Keep baby’s room & things as they were
Afraid to leave the house
Unable to stay in the house
Drinking to excess
Anorexia
Depression, sadness
Dyspnea
Dreams
Nightmares
Forgetting things
Headache
Lump in throat
Sexuality problems
Guilt
Insomnia
Scratchy eyes
Unable to concentrate
Rumination
Jealousy
Constipation
Confused
Unusual
Deserted
Loss of motivation
Cheated
Sad
Defeated
Relieved
Dysfunctional
Left behind
Emptiness
Mad
Out of control
Not knowing what to expect
Heavy
Remove all reminders of the baby
Unable to look at baby’s pictures
Unable to remember baby’s face
Setting up situations so you can cry
Drug abuse
Intolerance of trivia
Don’t give a ****
Overwhelmed
Feeling brittle
Waves of grief
Continuing old habits
Hostility
Nasal congestion
Preoccupation with images & thoughts of dead person
Loss of familiar psychosocial patterns
Flashbacks
Can’t get the person back
Loss of unconditional love
Hopeless
Loss of direction
Mortality
Guilty for feeling good
Singled out
Abandonment
Scared
Numb
Gypped
Feeling like I’m stuck
Wished I’d have done more
Regrets
Devastated
Forgetting the baby died
Denying the baby died
Feeling the baby’s presence
Wishing someone else’s baby had died
Wishing to take a baby away from abusive family
Being a workaholic