Is Grief An Addiction?

Taking some hints from addiction recovery to help with healing from grief.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

For my latest book project, I have been reading a book called Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love by Helen Fisher. I have been working on the theory that grief recovery is not very far off from addiction recovery. I know this sounds far-fetched, but hear me out. First off, we need to understand a little about brain chemistry:

• Elevated levels of dopamine in the brain produce highly focused attention, exhilaration, increased energy, sleeplessness, loss of appetite, pounding heart, anxiety, and fear. Sound familiar? During periods of falling in love and again when we lose that love, levels of dopamine in our brains increase.
• Norepinephrine is a chemical derived from dopamine. It has a similar effect on the brain as dopamine and can “explain why the lover can remember a beloved’s actions and cherished moments spent together. This liquor is associated with increased memory for new stimuli.”
• Serotonin meanwhile decreases with rising levels of dopamine and norepinephrine. Low levels of serotonin are often found in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder, so they are often treated with SSRIs, which is basically serotonin. So a person who is grieving (or in love) often has persistent…