The Grieving Brain

The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss

By: Mary-Frances O'Connor

Narrated by: Callie Beaulieu

NPR SciFri Book Club Pick

Next Big Idea Club's "Top 21 Psychology Books of 2022"

Behavioral Scientist Notable Books of 2022

A renowned grief expert and neuroscientist shares groundbreaking discoveries about what happens in our brain when we grieve, providing a new paradigm for understanding love, loss, and learning.

In The Grieving Brain, neuroscientist and psychologist Mary-Frances O’Connor, PhD, gives us a fascinating new window into one of the hallmark experiences of being human. O’Connor has devoted decades to researching the effects of grief on the brain, and in this book, she makes cutting-edge neuroscience accessible through her contagious enthusiasm, and guides us through how we encode love and grief. With love, our neurons help us form attachments to others; but, with loss, our brain must come to terms with where our loved ones went, or how to imagine a future without them.

The Grieving Brain addresses:

• Why it’s so hard to understand that a loved one has died and is gone forever
• Why grief causes so many emotions—sadness, anger, blame, guilt, and yearning
• Why grieving takes so long
• The distinction between grief and prolonged grief
• Why we ruminate so much after we lose a loved one
• How we go about restoring a meaningful life while grieving

Based on O’Connor’s own trailblazing neuroimaging work, research in the field, and her real-life stories, The Grieving Brain combines storytelling, accessible science, and practical knowledge that will help us better understand what happens when we grieve and how to navigate loss with more ease and grace.

pragmatic and illuminating

Author casts an excellent performer. Data heavy but experientially related. Which is to say this book brings people info focus, with interesting hope-filled guidance. Thank you.

Grieving is a personal experience, not 6 stages

Some unnecessary details.
Would have liked a summary at the end with recommendations for abnormal grieving and normal or acceptance .
Enjoyed discussion of stages we all have used, agree is not observed in everyone
How older adults with positive personalities adjust to loss, should be studied.

I like the book, didn’t care for the narrator

The narrator sounded like an AI robot? I didn’t like it at all, but I loved the book. I have the physical copy and followed along while listening. As a therapist I found the book extremely insightful and helpful.

Worth listening to

This is a disturbing topic worth listening to with a very surprising conclusion. Another important item for this topic is no timeframe is set for a conclusion. Your conclusion will or may not be similar to my conclusion.
A deep book to read but very rewarding especially if you you have a spouse or significant other

Well done

Three months into deep grief certain passages stood out for my particular case, helping me to move forward