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Can You Die of a Broken Heart?
Your mind and body work to protect you when faced with grief, but there could be deadly consequences if communication goes awry
Heartbreak hurts. Whether it’s caused by the death of a loved one or a broken relationship, there’s no denying its agonizing effects.
If you’ve ever been heartbroken, you probably went through a grieving period, feeling sad, and maybe angry too. You might’ve felt some physical effects like chest tightness, loss of appetite, or brain fog. And if that’s not enough to deal with, it turns out that death by broken heart is a scientifically proven possibility.
Several people are said to have died from a broken heart, including, famously, Debbie Reynolds, one day after the passing of her daughter, Carrie Fisher. Johnny Cash died four months after his wife, June Cash. Joe Garcia, the husband of a teacher killed in the 2022 Uvalde, TX school shooting, died just two days after the tragedy.
These cases are notable because of how rarely they’re thought to occur. But with new research pointing to poor long-term outcomes, it’s likely that many more people succumb to grief than we realize.
Broken heart syndrome, the lay term for what doctors dub Takotsubo Syndrome, mimics the symptoms of a heart…
