Key points

Neuroimmune parenting involves unpredictable shifts that create emotional overload and invisible grief.

Parents experience layered loss: who their child was, who they may become, and the uncertainty in between.

Complex sorrow is not depression or lack of coping; it reflects love, vigilance, and relentless caregiving.

Intentional self-attunement offers a way to meet sorrow with presence, reducing overwhelm to expand capacity.

Complex sorrow in neuroimmune parenting Source: Karolina Grabowska/Pexels

It was a holiday. Outside, children spilled into yards and streets, running with sparklers, calling to each other, their laughter cutting through the warm air. Families gathered on porches. Everyone was celebrating.

My son was not outside.

He lay in bed, in a darkened roo

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