Aching

“Due to the stress response, the body may be holding tension in particular parts and locations of the body,” Dr Minchin explains.

Cortisol can build up in the shoulders, for example, leaving you feeling tense. Or you might find your body slumping due to the physical heaviness of grief.

Breathing patterns

Your breathing may be affected by grief. “Breathing patterns may adapt to the changes in the autonomic nervous system, such as short, shallow breathing and a heightened breath rate per minute indicative of stress or anxiety,” says Dr Minchin. But she says that breathing changes can look like any other dysregulation. It can affect pace, rhythm, rate and even the location of breathing, such as feeling it in your chest, compared with your belly.

Circadian rhythm

Your sleep could well be affected by grief. This is because your circadian rhythm is out of whack due to the stress response. “This may lead to difficulty getting to sleep, waking in the early hours due to high cortisol or oversleeping,” Dr Minchin explains.

Digestive issues

Stress in the body could also affect your digestive system. And it’s not just a case of not being able to eat properly. “This may manifest as overeating, loss of appetite, dysregulation of the bowel movements, gut issues and stomach pain,” Dr Minchin says.

Reduced immunity

Dr Clare Thompson, GP at the Cadogan Clinic, says that when you grieve, your immune system may take a hit.

“Our bodies are wired to respond to changes in our brain chemistry. Stress responses such as grief can flood our bodies with cortisol.” These stress hormones can then suppress the immune system, meaning it doesn’t work as well as we’d like.

Memory problems

Known as ‘grief brain’ or ‘grief fog’, this is where grief can affect the memory, causing forgetfulness, memory loss and difficulty processing information. This happens as stress affects the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory.

Exhaustion

Grief can also leave us feeling exhausted, says Dr Thompson. This is because the body is put through a lot of stress through hormone surges, sleep disruption and changes in thinking patterns. And these can really tire us out.

It’s important to remember that grief can show up in a whole host of ways and isn’t just limited to the above symptoms. These can also change as time goes on. Dr Thompson says: “The timeline of grief is not linear and the first year of a loss is often felt most acutely with frequent reminders in the calendar of occasions in which the person is absent and missed. It may wax and wane for many years, becoming less acute over time.”

Sign up to our Well by Stylist newsletter: the latest relatable health and fitness content written by experts and backed up by research.

Get unlimited digital access from £3.49/month