Broken heart syndrome is a heart condition that's often brought on by stressful situations and extreme emotions. The condition also can be triggered by a serious physical illness or surgery. Broken heart syndrome is often a temporary condition. But some people may continue to feel unwell after the heart is healed.
When you experience a stressful event, your body produces hormones and proteins such as adrenaline and noradrenaline that are meant to help cope with the stress. The heart muscle can be overwhelmed by a massive amount of adrenaline that is suddenly produced in response to stress.
Unfortunately, stress can sometimes put a lot of strain on the heart. This can happen in several different ways: In people who already have blocked coronary arteries, the high blood pressure and heart rate from stress may overwork the heart. This can lead to an angina attack or even a heart attack.
Stress from grief can flood the body with hormones, specifically cortisol, which causes that heavy-achy-feeling you get in your chest area. The heartache that comes with depression can increase the likelihood of a heart attack.
Some people describe it as a dull ache, others as piercing, while still others experience it as a crushing sensation. The pain can last for a few seconds and then subside, or it can be chronic, hanging over your days and depleting you like just like the pain, say, of a back injury or a migraine.
Some people report feeling physical symptoms, such as body aches and digestive issues. Feelings of guilt, shame, or difficulty concentrating are also signs of emotional strain. If you think “I feel broken,” you might notice these signs in your mind or body.
Even ifyou were the one who initiated the split, there are five stages ofgrief that you will go through. They are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, according to Mental-Health-Matters.
Some data (such as from self-reported surveys) do suggest that men recover from breakups faster than women, according to Paul Hokemeyer, PhD, a marriage and family therapist and author of the book Fragile Power: Why Having Everything Is Never Enough.
A breakup is a kind of dying—here's how we grieve.
Knowing the phases of grief — denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance — can help normalize one's break-up experience.
Broken Woman Syndrome can be described as a woman who has unresolved issues with the men in her life (father, grandfather, brother, uncle, former lover, etc.), and finds herself going from relationship to relationship in hopes of escaping her brokenness.
Experiencing traumatic events, failed relationships, having a mental health condition, or feeling unsuccessful can make us feel like we're “damaged goods.” And we may start to wonder: am I broken? In these moments where we feel broken, it's important to acknowledge that it's ok to feel this way.
These negative emotions are influenced by hormones — with increases in the stress hormones cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline, and reductions in happy hormones serotonin and oxytocin within the body. These "heartbreak hormones" may also cause the physical symptoms that lead people to feel pain.
After a breakup or the death of a loved one, the brain stops producing these chemicals, and the body literally suffers from the withdrawal of these feel-good hormones. Therefore, a broken heart feels so difficult and painful to deal with. The person often withdraws in their shell and is pushed into depression.
Neuroimaging studies have shown that brain regions involved in processing physical pain overlap considerably with those tied to social anguish. The connection is so strong that traditional bodily painkillers seem capable of relieving our emotional wounds. Love may actually hurt, like hurt hurt, after all.
Love can literally break your heart
The scientific term is “stress-induced cardiomyopathy” and it can strike even the healthiest person when their stress hormones surge during an emotionally stressful event, such as the death of a partner, divorce, or even a bad breakup.
Along with the emotional baggage it carries, extreme sadness can cause distinctive physical sensations in the chest: tight muscles, a pounding heart, rapid breathing, and even a churning stomach. As you can see on the body map, survey respondents pinpointed the chest as a major spot for the manifestation of sadness.
Broken heart syndrome is a heart condition that's often brought on by stressful situations and extreme emotions. The condition also can be triggered by a serious physical illness or surgery. Broken heart syndrome is often a temporary condition. But some people may continue to feel unwell after the heart is healed.
Take a slow, deep breath through your nose and allow your belly to push out the hand on your belly. The hand on your chest should not move. Exhale your breath through pursed lips and allow the hand on your belly to move inwards again, pushing all the air out. Repeat this 10 times.
Chest pain is a common symptom of anxiety. The pain is often sharp, fleeting, or causes a sudden “catch” that interrupts a breath.
Sadness may flood your body with hormones like cortisol. Excess stress hormones in the body can cause physical sensations in your heart and nervous system, like chest pain, itching, or a rapid heart rate.