Question

What are the physical and intellectual effects of bereavement on a person who also is diagnosed with a disease?

Answer 1

Answer:

Bereavement, while part of everyone's life, is a form of mental stress and as such can affect people greatly. People can find significant declines in their intellectual functions (memory, concentration, reasoning, etc.) and some can even change certain beliefs looking for support. Physical functions are also affected when a person’s mind is under stress, so people can find themselves having troubles sleeping and eating, and suffering from various pains and dizziness. This can affect their existing conditions and worsen their previous diagnoses, making the heal harder.

Explanation:

Bereavement and grief can seriously impact a person’s mental state, and with that, they can affect someone’s body and health.

Besides an obvious state of melancholia and depression in which people can find themselves in times of loss, they might also start being affected intellectually. People can start forgetting things, being confused, and lost. They can change their beliefs in hard times such as that one, especially if they also suffer from the disease. For example, they might try to find comfort in some belief system that offers support or promise of a better life. These belief systems can slow provide a “guide” on how to better the physical state, offer eternal life, or some similar concepts. People who were never prone to these thoughts might find themselves drawn to them in times of excessive sorrow when the material world can’t offer them comfort or answer to their problems.

With a worsened mental state almost always comes the effect on the body. If the person is already sick with the disease, their symptoms might worsen. First, they are more likely not to take proper care of themselves and their body in the time of depression, which will take a toll on their health. Secondly, it is proven that psychological stress affects bodily functioning. One of the most common things affected is sleeping and eating problems, but also headaches, stomachaches, nausea, dizziness, etc. All of these will likely worsen their existing condition, making the progress to health harder.