I am sure that the majority of us at this point have experienced the feeling of heartache. Whether it was from the loss of a grandparent or your long term boyfriend/girlfriend calling it quits, the feeling of a broken heart is unfortunately a universal emotion. When my boyfriend of two years broke up with me before college, I sat in my bed with Ben & Jerry’s and swore I was going to die from crying so much. I felt more pain than I have ever experienced before and I am still so young. It got me thinking about people who lose their relationship after being with that person for five, ten, or even thirty years. It got me questioning: Can you truly die from a broken heart?
After doing some research, I learned that it is very common for a spouse to die months or even weeks after their significant other passes away. According to BBC News, “The number of people who had a heart attack or a stroke in the month after a loved-one died was double that of a matched control group who were not grieving (50 out of 30,447 in the bereaved group, or 0.16%, compared with 67 out of 83,588 in the non-bereaved group, or 0.08%).” This statistic goes to show that heart break truly can effect the physical and medical state of a human being.
Broken heart syndrome, known more formally as Stress Cardiomyopathy, is a temporary condition where the heart muscle becomes suddenly weakened or stunned. This causes the left ventricle to change shape. So, while the heart does not technically “break,” there definitely is a clear change in its shape when it is weakened by external causes such as losing a loved one.
After learning more about humans and our heart break, I was curious to see how it is for other animals. It was fascinating learning how many other animals experience these same circumstances just as humans do. In one article, an elephant in India named Damini refused to move, eat, or drink after losing her companion. According to the doctors, the intense grief Damini was experiencing caused all of the treatments to fail and she ended up dying. Damini’s refusal to move, eat, or drink was a choice she made. This shows how although heart break can kill, it also is the individual’s choice in some circumstances whether to fight back or not. If Damini had continued to eat her food and stay hydrated, would her story have ended up differently? This shows that it is not the physical breakage of a heart that can cause death, but more often so the way we react to it that can physically harm us.
I suppose what we should all get out of this is that humans and animals both can be greatly effected by how we treat each other. Heart break is a real thing and I have now learned that yes, it is in fact possible to die if the heart break is severe enough.
Work Cited:
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28756374
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/695312/India-elephant-dies-of-broken-heart.html?pg=all
Love this post! Reading your post made me think of my good friends grand parents. This theory became so interesting after BOTH of them died, within 7 days apart. Her grandma died from a sickness, and 7 days later, her healthy grandfather passed as well. I knew it was from a broken heart. Broken heart syndrome is also known as stress-induced cardiomyopathy. At first, you receive sever chest pains, and may lead to a heart attack. Usually, this is from an emotionally stressful event that recently occurred. Heart.org shares more information about this topic!
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/More/Cardiomyopathy/Is-Broken-Heart-Syndrome-Real_UCM_448547_Article.jsp
I love this topic and the picture choice with it! I saw an episode of “Scrubs” about a woman that died shortly after her husband did. It is really sad that losing a loved one not only mentally affects a person but physically as well. Stress is a very powerful feeling on a person. This article from the Mayo Clinic goes into greater detail of treatment options and symptoms; you may find it interesting :).
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/broken-heart-syndrome/basics/definition/con-20034635
This has always been a topic that interests me and I am glad that you brought it up! For starters, I’m sorry to hear about your relationship. I’m in a similar boat, so just know you are not alone, and it gets a lot better!! While this comment might not necessarily be too scientific, I know from personal experience, my mother’s old dog and cat were the absolute best of friends. They, despite being a rather odd pair, would never go anywhere without the other. When the cat died, the dog simply was not the same. Differently fro Damini, he would eat, drink, and move, but you could definitely sense the difference in the poor thing. After about a week, the once lively dog… passed away. The vet himself really had no other comment than to say, “he was worn out and clearly emotionally distraught.” To me, the dog died because of a broken heart caused by the loss of his best friend. Loss is a very emotionally draining thing, and I can see why it would cause people to end up unable to recover. I find it very interesting to see that the heart can suffer some damage during times of heartache, and I really am glad you brought that up. Everyone really can be impacted by being hurt in some way, so in all honesty, I definitely do believe that you can die from a broken heart, and this article definitely solidified my beliefs!