About the author
Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor is a clinical psychologist and neuroscientist at the University of Arizona, where she leads the Grief, Loss and Social Stress (GLASS) Lab. She has spent her career studying what grief does to the brain and body — and she writes about it in plain words, not lecture-hall words.
Why I recommend it
If The Grieving Brain explains your mind, this one cares for your body. Drawing on her own loss and her research, Dr. O'Connor shows how bereavement changes sleep, eating, energy and even the immune system — and what actually helps.
It explores the physical effects of bereavement through research and personal experience. If reading about grief and health feels heavy, you can pause and return another time. The book is not a substitute for medical care.
Read the two together as a pair: understand your brain, tend your body.
A gentle reading plan
No deadlines. Skip a week whenever you need to.
- Before you startRead a few pages to see how it feels. You can set it aside at any point, whether your loss is recent or years ago.
- Week 1Read the opening chapters. Each evening, notice one thing in your body — sleep, appetite, tight chest — without judging it.
- Week 2One chapter at a time. Pick a single small thing it suggests and try it for three days.
- Week 3–4Finish at your own pace. Keep a short list of what helped your body, so you can come back to it on hard days.
See it on Amazon
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