Grief is the deep sadness and pain you feel when you lose someone or something precious to you. When a beloved grandparent dies, or when a cherished family pet dies, the heavy, aching feeling that follows is grief. It's the specific kind of sorrow that comes from loss, deeper and more overwhelming than ordinary sadness.

People experience grief differently. Some cry often, while others feel numb or empty. Some want to talk about their loss constantly, while others prefer quiet reflection. Grief often comes in waves: you might feel okay one moment, then suddenly overwhelmed the next. You might also grieve for things other than death, like when your best friend moves across the country or when something you worked hard to build gets destroyed.

Grief is a natural response to caring deeply about someone or something. The intensity of your grief often reflects how much that person or thing mattered to you. Over time, grief usually becomes less overwhelming, though the loss itself never disappears completely. People often say that grief is love with nowhere to go: you still care just as much, but the person or thing you cared about is gone.