"
"This is the part of the brain involved in knowing that you want
something," she said. "When people who are not adjusting well are
having these sorts of thoughts about the person, they are
experiencing this reward pathway being activated. They really are
craving in a way that perhaps is not allowing them or helping them
adapt to the new reality."

The same brain system is involved in other powerful cravings, such
those that afflict drug addicts and alcoholics.

"One reason they are stuck is they are getting something pleasurable
about thinking about and immersing themselves in memories of the
deceased," said Holly Prigerson, an associate professor of psychiatry
at Harvard Medical School. "It's like they're addicted
"