The Grieving Brain

The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss

By: Mary-Frances O'Connor

Narrated by: Callie Beaulieu

Length: 8 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

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.

©2022 by O’Connor Productions, Inc. (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Complexities of Grieving Brains

As a bereaved mom and recent widowed nurse, I rather enjoyed the scientific research behind what I had been feeling with the sudden loss of our firstborn. And then now, with the recent loss of my husband, I can see the difference of why my son’s loss was so difficult for the whole family & I versus my hubby’s death from a 10.5 month battle with an aggressive brain cancer. Wow! What great information and how I can see how invaluable a wonderful grief therapist really is. Thank you, Mary-Frances O’Conner for scientifically proving I wasn’t “going crazy”!

So very insightful

I recommend this book to anyone who is faced with grieving. It really makes you think of your life differently!!!

Helpful

Grieving is not the same for all and this helped me understand that. Feeling thankful!

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

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.

Well done

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

New understanding of grief

Very insightful sharing on the grief process. Supported my personal and professional growth. Artfully shared.

Narrator sounds like AI

I really wanted to listen to this book. I couldn’t stand to listen to the narrator. It sounded like artificial intelligence was reading.
I bought a physical copy so I could get the information I wanted but that requires I sit and read. Something I find difficult at this point in my process of grief.
Please for the love of God find a better narrator for this book and replace on my account the new version for the one I bought.
Listening to someone read a book on grief should be relaxing and comforting. Instead it just makes me annoyed.
The book itself from what I could stomach listening to and what I have been able to read is fabulous. Understanding the physiological aspect is necessary to grieve with any sense of purpose.
I recommend the book but not on Audible.

The bad narration. I couldn’t focus on the content at all.

The narrator’s voice was so obnoxious that I could not listen to the entire book.

Just what I needed to know.

Thank you Audible for featuring this book. It has helped me to bridge the gaps between love and loss. I've gained so much. Every chapter was like a jewel unto itself.