Workplace Grief: What’s New, What’s Needed
By Glenn Pransky
Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Scientific Advisor, Lincoln Financial Group
Grief is a fundamental human experience, affecting at least one in 20 workers every year. It has a profound effect on mental and physical health, absence, and productivity.1 COVID-19 made this experience more common while simultaneously interrupting cultural traditions and social supports that help people get through the loss of a loved one.
Employers can help by understanding that the grieving process is different for everyone. Feelings of numbness, despair, denial, and helplessness are common soon after the loss, as are poor memory, difficulty concentrating, and obsessive thoughts. The emotional stress can lead to mental and physical health problems; heart attacks are 20 times more likely during acute grief.2 The symptoms of grief usually resolve over a few weeks or months through a process of gradual acceptance and adjustment to a new reality. Social support is key to recovery and restoration of a new normal state.
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