Sep 18, 2026 · 25 min
Grief reshapes the body, relationships and communities
The science of grief and how it can impact physical health
Understanding grief as both a psychological experience and a biological stress response can clarify when compassion, community support or additional care may be needed.
- 1Grief can influence genetic activity and physical health through the body’s stress response to social loss.
- 2Prolonged grief disorder differs from typical grief, but diagnosis must account for varied losses, cultures and individual experiences.
- 3Healing depends less on isolation than on compassionate support, community connection and renewed participation in shared life.
Don't miss
George Slavich connects pandemic-era isolation, disrupted mourning and broader social disconnection to the need for deliberate reconnection.
The brief
Ali Rogan frames grief as both a psychological experience and a biological stress response, bringing together George Slavich and Liz Gleason to examine its effects on health.
George Slavich explains how losing important relationships can activate stress pathways that influence genetic activity and cellular health, drawing on his experience of losing both parents.
Liz Gleason distinguishes typical grief from prolonged grief disorder while stressing that losses, symptoms and recovery vary widely across people and cultures.
The discussion turns to the point where grief disrupts work, relationships and quality of life, weighing the value and limits of psychiatric diagnosis and formal support.
The episode’s sharpest turn is collective: pandemic losses and disrupted funerals exposed how isolation complicates mourning, while both guests argue that community and reconnection are essential to healing.
The closing argument extends beyond bereavement: societies that make room for death, compassion and renewed connection may better protect individual health and democratic life.
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