Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor is a neuroscientist who studies grief, and in this book she explains what actually happens in your brain after a devastating loss — including why you keep searching for the person who died, why concentration falls apart, and why grieving takes far longer than the world expects.
For me this book did something no other did: it turned 'what is wrong with me?' into 'oh — that's my brain doing what brains do.' Readers and grief counselors alike praise it for being compassionate as well as scientific.
Read it slowly, a chapter at a time. It pairs naturally with her follow-up, The Grieving Body — one for your mind, one for your body.
See it on Amazon
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