How does the brain react to deep grief? Neuroscientists on the similarities between physical and emotional pain Each of us has faced negative social experiences that threatened our social connections: divorce or breakup, rejection by a reference social group, death loved ones. Interestingly, when describing this experience we often use the vocabulary of physical pain. For example, we say: parting with a loved one leads to pain in the heart; an insult is like a slap in the face; criticism from someone we admire is devastating. This linguistic feature does not belong only to the English language. MacDonald and Leary (2005) observed that cultures around the world use terms of physical pain to convey the emotional pain of being devalued by others (bruised self-esteem). This is likely because social pain (the mental pain of not having meaningful social connections , end, are damaged) are mediated by the same neural and neurochemical processes that are involved in the processing of physical pain (Eisenberger, 2012, Eisenberger and Lieberman, 2004, MacDonald and Leary, 2005 and Panksepp, 1998). In other words, rupture or damage to social bonds ( and the threat of it) cause pain in a very real way because it affects the functioning of the same mechanisms that are responsible for physical pain. We will explore this hypothesis next: we will discuss the evolutionary values ​​of social pain; consider the evidence for neurochemical relationships between social and physical pain, and consider some of the consequences of these relationships. The Evolution of Social Pain Humans are highly social creatures for whom pleasure and frustration are often associated with the satisfaction or frustration of a social sense of belonging. (Jaremka, Gabriel, & Carvallo, 2011) Our desire to maintain stable and meaningful social relationships emerged throughout evolutionary history (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). For our ancestors, the group was the main tool for survival, which provided protection from predators, hunting, searching for food, the ability to safely bear and raise children (Baumeister and Leary, 1995 and Brewer and Caporael, 1990), care during illness or injury (Hublin, 2009) and extreme dependence in childhood (Bowlby, 1969/1982). Because single people were ill-equipped to face daunting environmental challenges, our ancestors' survival depended on the reliability of the social environment, not just the physical body. Therefore, the evolutionarily ancient signal of pain (which serves to limit damage to the body) may have been co-opted to alert humans and other social mammals to the possibility of damage to social relationships (Eisenberger and Lieberman, 2004, MacDonald and Leary, 2005 and Panksepp, 1998). Just as physical pain protects animals by drawing attention to the site of injury and motivating appropriate recovery action, social pain can signal potential alienation from the social environment and motivate restoration of a sense of belonging. This idea is further explored in terms of the neurochemical and neural systems that mediate physical and social pain. Neurochemical evidence for the relationship between physical and social pain“... I have to give credit to the man who first extracted morphine from the poppy. The pain stopped seven minutes after the injection... and I forgot completely about the woman who had deceived me.” (Bulgakov, 1975, p. 125) As quoted from the story above, researchers have suggested that opiate drugs and powerful painkillers can relieve the pain of social loss. Indeed, the endogenous opiate system (endorphins, enkephalins) appears to play a key role in the regulation of physical and social pain. Morphine, which reduces pain primarily through opiate receptors (Matthes., 1996), reduces social pain in various animal species (Carden et al., 1996, Carden and