Various Responses to Loss
There are a variety of responses physical, ccognitive, behavioral, and emotional that can be exhibited after experiencing a loss. Different types of loss can precipitate these responses be it a death, a traumatic event, the break up of a long-standing relationship. A grieving person can undergo both significant and subtle changes that impact their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual states. It is important to understand that these feelings and experiences are a way of coping. These are normal reactions to a major loss. These responses should be viewed as a normal response to an abnormal event. It is important to remember that 

Depending on the perception and experiences of the loss, people may experience one of the following responses or a combination of the following normal responses to this event:

• Acute Traumatic Response
• Acute Grief Response
• Acute Stress Disorder

People may respond differently to the same loss or traumatic event. People experience stress and respond to stress in different ways. Not everyone demonstrates a reaction to a loss. Some people may not appear to be affected. Some have delayed reactions that do not show up for days, to weeks or even months later. Others never have a reaction at all. Everyone has their own coping mechanisms. It is important not to compare our reaction with the reactions of others, or judge their reactions or even lack of reactions.

The grieving person may experience a variety of physical or body complaints: fatigue, insomnia, pain, gastrointestinal symptoms, chest pressure, palpitations, stomach pains, backaches, panic attacks, or inreased anxiety. These potentially serious complaints require a through evaluation to exclude potentially serious medical disorders before a traumatic response, a grief response, or a stress disorder can be diagnosed.

Which reaction or response is experienced may be determined by which type of health care professional you might encounter. Trauma responders and emergency room physicians are more familiar with the Acute Traumatic Response. Primary Care and Family practitioners with the Acute Grief Response and Mental Health Workers with the Acute Stress Disorder (or the more chronic condition Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). The signs symptoms involved in these different reactions to loss are overlapping and inter-related.

The traumatic nature and the magnitude of the events that occurred on September 11, 2001, combined with the vastness of the death and the destruction, the suddenness and senselessness of the attack make it more likely those who witnessed the events will have some response to this abnormal event.