Knowledge you can walk. Read the idea below, then step up to the general, across to peers or down to the specific.
Mental
Sadness and Grief
Sadness is emotional pain linked to loss and disappointment, and grief is the response to losing someone or something important.
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The idea
Sadness is an emotional pain that comes with feelings of loss, disappointment, helplessness and sorrow. A sad person may become quiet or tired and pull away from others, and crying can be a sign of sadness. The psychologist Paul Ekman listed sadness as one of six basic emotions, along with happiness, anger, surprise, fear and disgust.
Grief is the response to losing something important, especially the death of a person or animal we loved. Bereavement is the state of having lost someone, while grief is the reaction to that loss. People also grieve other losses, such as losing a job, poor health or the end of a relationship. Grief affects more than feelings, because it also touches the body, thinking, behavior and social life.
Grief does not look the same for everyone. It can show up as sadness, anger, anxiety, laughter or even numbness. Research suggests that most people are naturally resilient and keep functioning after a major loss. For some, grief becomes long-lasting and makes daily routines very hard, and then professional help can matter.
Check yourself
Question 1 of 2
What is the difference between bereavement and grief?
Composition
what it's made of
- Emotional pain — The hurt of loss, disappointment and sorrow at the core of sadness.
- Withdrawal — Becoming quiet, tired or pulling away from others.
- Loss — The death of a loved one or another important loss that sets off grief.
- Varied expressions — Grief can appear as sadness, anger, anxiety, laughter or numbness.
- Resilience — The ability most people show to keep functioning after a major loss.
Connection
how it relates
Under Emotions and Feelings
Change
how and why it evolves
- Past
- In her 1969 book On Death and Dying, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross introduced the well-known five stages of grief. Between 1996 and 2006, many researchers grew doubtful that grief follows one fixed, predictable path.
- Now
- Modern research has moved away from rigid stage models toward more flexible ones. One is the Two-Track Model of Bereavement, created by Simon Shimshon Rubin in 1981, which looks at both daily functioning and a person's ongoing bond with the one who died.
- Next
- Some evolutionary theories suggest grief may help strengthen social bonds, and future research may clarify why humans grieve and how best to support them.