Read what actions helped support grieving individuals during times of anguish

Grieving is a process—no need to rush social activities or major life decisions, if possible

Individuals experiencing grief may find comfort through counseling, online support groups, support books, and activities like volunteering. Each of these resources can help individuals build a community or new daily patterns when navigating intense anguish.

Sheryl Sandberg's top things to avoid saying to someone who is grieving

Sandberg states seemingly innocuous questions like "How are you?" can feel fraught for someone who is grieving—so swapping in "How are you today?" can be a more considerate alternative. She discusses how avoiding mentioning the name of the loved one or offering platitudes like "you will get through this" can miss the mark, and that acknowledgement and telling people they aren't alone can be more affirming.

USA Today asked readers about their grief—and received more than 700 responses

The submissions included one moving story of two women whose sons died by drug overdose. The duo wrote that they found each other in a support group and decided to navigate their respective difficult situations by starting a podcast together called "Two Moms with Two Dead Kids," which focused on what life was like in the years following the deaths of their children.

Heart attack risk jumps to 21 times its norm on the day of a loved one's death

Research published in 2012 suggests that the intense emotional burden of suffering a loved one's death can escalate heart rate, blood pressure, and clot risks—culminating in elevated heart attack risk. The increased heart attack risk remains after that first day, remaining eight times above normal during the first week, and then dropping down over the course of a month. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

An online presence provides a means of grieving and honoring individuals after death

Shifting perspectives toward the increasing importance of digital profiles of the dead have made anticipatory management of one's digital legacy more critical. Experts suggest choosing a tech-savvy relative—such as a cousin—over a spouse to reduce confusion about what to preserve or discard, as well as how to access password-protected content.

They lost loved ones on 9/11. Hear the heart-wrenching voicemails they'd leave for them.

NPR set up an old phone booth in Brooklyn Bridge Park — across the river from the new World Trade Center — and invited people to leave a voicemail for someone they lost that day.

An 87-year-old widower goes viral for hand-delivering party invitations door to door that read "4 pm until the cops arrive"

A man knocked on his neighbor's door to offer a paper invitation to a winter-themed party he was throwing. "My wife is gone now, so it gives me something to keep me busy," he later explained. "I'm going to get these people in one room, and maybe they'll get to know each other." The viral experience has since brought him fan mail and party treats.

Families of true crime victims deal with added pain when their stories are publicized

True crime enthusiasts have never asked Annie Nichol to consent to public recountings of her sister's murder. For decades, Nichol has been inundated with gruesome dramatizations of one of life's greatest losses by people who profit from such productions. She has, however, been asked to share memories of her sister, though such memories "are all that I have left of her that haven't been exploited for public consumption."

Helping support others in older age linked to longer life

Analysis of findings from a long-term study of older couples first interviewed in 1987 and then followed for the next five years found that individuals who lend support to friends, neighbors, and relatives live longer. Non-helpers were more than twice as likely to die as helpers during the five-year period. That's even after controlling for factors including age, gender, and physical and mental health.

Fifty-two acts of kindness for each week of 2023

Whether fostering kittens, donating blood, or delivering boxes of biscuits to striking workers, there has never been a better time to help out. Here's a kindness suggestion for each week of 2023.

An archive of anonymous messages people wrote but never sent

The site invites users to submit unsent letters to people, pets, or moments, which are then published anonymously for strangers to read. Every post is moderated, and the design of the site—no likes or replies, just words—feels polished and somber.

Cultural norms about how to handle the bodies of loved ones have hampered Ebola responses in West Africa

Awareness of local burial and grieving traditions eventually helped healthcare workers fight the spread of the virus. As healthcare workers and burial teams altered their procedures during the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak, and as community leaders pressed people to adapt traditional ceremonies, the spread of Ebola began to slow.

Cultural norms about how to handle the bodies of loved ones in communities in West Africa have hampered Ebola responses.

'Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead.'

Meyer Wolfsheim in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby"

Support groups can offer insights into current and potential treatments

Beyond connecting with patients with similar experiences, support groups can also become centers for advocacy and for sharing research advances and medical experiences, including potential side effects from novel therapies or clinical trials.

Nostalgia is a psychological coping mechanism that can help combat loneliness—but it's created from bias

Researchers have observed that though nostalgia can help counteract feelings of loneliness, our memories of the past are somewhat rose colored. Negative emotions seem to fade faster than positive ones, a phenomenon that they suggest may be a psychological coping mechanism so that memories don't hurt every time they're recalled. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Visualizing where happiness comes from

Researchers asked 10,000 participants to list 10 things that recently made them happy. One author broke down the responses into subject-verb-object categories, isolating the people and events that made responders satisfied. The result highlights how simple things like having dinner or watching a movie made someone happy. Dive in and look for some ideas or tips on feeling happy today with this fascinating visualization.

Stranger pays for a family's breakfast tab and writes heartfelt note praising the father of three kids

In Fort Worth, Texas, an Emergency Room doctor wearing scrubs was enjoying a meal with his wife and three children. While getting ready to pay, the family learned that their $85 bill had already been settled, with a kind note left behind. The message was signed by "a retired Army Medic" who thanks the man for being a good father.

What ghosts eat around the world

This Thrillist article compiles a rich assortment of cultural beliefs and practices surrounding food for the dead. From Bengali folklore to Ancient Greek mythology, peruse through the different ways in which cultures around the world use food to maintain connected to the deceased.

Touch helps newborns regulate stress, gain weight, and feel less pain

Conclusions from this 2024 analysis from a team of Danish researchers included that touch interventions were particularly useful for newborns in regulating cortisol levels, helping newborns gain weight, and reducing pain. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Joan Didion's Friendsgivings had famous guests and massive home-cooked meals

The influential writer enjoyed cooking for large groups, which included novelists Philip Roth, Edna O'Brien, and Nora Ephron.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Steve Jobs mandated that a legendary book on yoga be distributed at his memorial service

The iconic entrepreneur died in 2011, but before he did, he planned the details for his memorial service. One of the instructions was to leave attendees with a parting gift: a brown box that contained Paramahansa Yogananda’s book “Autobiography of a Yogi,” a book he read as a teenager and then returned to annually.

Studies show that reading fiction enhances empathy

It might sound like a cliché, but fiction really can make you a better person, objectively speaking. Numerous studies have proven that reading fiction, especially novels, can enhance empathy by exposing people to multiple perspectives and experiences.

Read the New York Times profile of TAKI 183

The 1971 article about the young graffiti artist and his many acolytes exposed the burgeoning subculture to a large audience and also detailed the effort to clean the work from the city's walls. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Bizarre college donations and the strings attached

When donors give to a college, they regularly prescribe specific stipulations, typically to fund a professorship in their name in a certain subject. But some of those stipulations are unique, including requiring annual graveside flowers, pet adoption for 150 dogs, or the consistent teaching of Ayn Rand’s "Atlas Shrugged."

Hundreds of vulnerable Chicago residents died in 1995 during a long-lasting heat wave

Eric Klinenberg wrote a book diving into the specifics of the heat wave. His book, detailing the stories and context fueling more than 700 deaths during just one summer week, helps readers understand how social infrastructure lapses, power outages, and ineffective heat responses led to so many deaths.

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

The tragic Pulitzer Prize-winning image 'The Vulture and the Little Girl' (1993) generated controversy, raised concerns about ethics in photography, and eventually led to the photographer's death.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

See these 16 pieces of art evoking phobias of snakes, flying, spiders, and more. 

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

Recent research found that the brain doesn't seem to massively rewire following amputation—upending earlier beliefs about the cause of phantom limb pain.

Existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre coined the famous phrase 'Hell is—other people' in his play 'No Exit'

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Use this tool to calculate the dollar value of your parental mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care, then see resources that help generate solutions.

Graffiti dates back to at least ancient Pompeii, where citizens scrawled messages to one another on public walls

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

The Ramones' 'Pet Sematary,' the theme song for the Stephen King novel of the same name, was written while the band was admiring the writer's collection of horror memorabilia.

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

To reduce wrinkles in clothing, research recommends gentle wash cycles with more water and tumble drying with smaller loads and longer times.

Volcanoes 'die' when their supply of magma runs out, if they are shifted away from their underlying magma reservoir, or if they get clogged by collapsing or their magma cooling back into rock.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.