A broken heart is an experience that all of us share, yet only experience alone.
Heartbreak is an unfortunately common part of the human experience, and it really, really sucks.
We’ve all been there, and it’s safe to say we all want to avoid experiencing heartbreak ever again. To fall in love is awfully simple, but to fall out of love is simply awful. Especially if you are the one who wanted the relationship to last. Mending a broken heart is never easy. There is no quick way to stop your heart from hurting so much.
There is something called Broken heart syndrome, also known as stress cardiomyopathy or takotsubo syndrome, occurs when a person experiences sudden acute stress that can rapidly weaken the heart muscle.
Broken heart syndrome is a condition that can cause rapid and reversive heart muscle weakness, also known as stress cardiomyopathy.
Symptoms of broken heart syndrome.
The symptoms of broken heart syndrome can mimic symptoms of a heart attack, including:
* Chest pain.
* Shortness of breath.
* Diaphoresis (sweating).
*Dizziness.
Broken heart syndrome can be life threatening. In some cases, it can cause severe heart muscle weakness resulting in:
* Congestive heart failure.
* Low blood pressure.
* Shock.
* Potentially life-threatening heart rhythm abnormalities.
Heartbreak hormones
Hormones aren’t just for randy teenagers – our bodies produce a long list of hormones every day for different purposes, including falling in and out of love.
Love can be addictive, like a drug, because of the hormones our brain releases when we become really attached to someone or something. Dopamine and oxytocin in particular are hormones which make us feel good and want to repeat behaviours, and are released at elevated levels when we’re in love.
Then, when heartbreak happens, these hormone levels drop and are replaced with the stress hormone cortisol. Designed to support your body’s fight or flight response, too much cortisol over a period of time can contribute to anxiety, nausea, acne and weight gain all those unpleasant mental and physical symptoms associated with heartbreak.
Short and long term prognosis depends on the type of stressor that causes the syndrome in the first place. Patients who develop broken heart syndrome due to emotional triggers have a good five year prognosis. Patients with physical stressors have a worse prognosis due to neurologic events, like a stroke. Since the heart muscle is not permanently damaged, most patients with broken heart syndrome continue to live healthy lives.
Heartbreak can cause a large amount of stress, especially if the loss is a sudden one. This stress can affect how we feel emotionally and physically, and may take weeks, months or even years to recover from.
Emotional Stressors
Emotional stressors include:
* Grief.
* Fear.
* Extreme anger.
* Surprise.
* Physical Stressors.
These conditions include:
* High fever.
* Stroke.
* Seizure.
* Difficulty breathing (such as an asthma attack or emphysema).
* Significant bleeding.
* Low blood sugar.
To stop loving isn’t an option. When those you love deeply reject you, leave you, or die, your heart will be broken. But that should not hold you back from loving deeply. The pain that comes from deep love makes your love ever more fruitful.
How do we get beyond the pain?
Here are some tips:
* Make a good and bad list.
* List your strengths.
* Laugh. And cry.
* Help someone else.
* Detach and revel in your independence again.
* Go through it, not around it.
* Allow some fantasizing.
* Work it out.
* Create a new world.
* Find hope.
While it will be different for every person and every circumstance, in times of heartbreak, and set up healthy habits for an ongoing, healthy lifestyle. When you’re heartbroken, it can be easy to withdraw from your regular life and stop doing the things that you enjoy. But getting out and about, spending time with positive and supportive people, eating well and exercise can all help boost your mood and distract you from your upset.
There’s no shame in feeling like you’re not coping very well with a heart break – as we’ve seen, heart break can be a big shock to the system.
The more you have loved and have allowed yourself to suffer because of your love, the more you will be able to let your heart grow wider and deeper. When your love is truly giving and receiving, those whom you love will not leave your heart even when they depart from you. The pain of rejection, absence, and death can become fruitful. Yes, as you love deeply the ground of your heart will be broken more and more, but you will rejoice in the abundance of the fruit it will bear.
Keep in mind that the old adage that “you’ll heal with time” has some truth to it. Over time, as the stress eases and you begin to calm down and recover, you should expect your bodily systems to gradually return to normal.
If you’re feeling like the stress, sadness or anger isn’t passing, if you’re having trouble getting back to normal life, or if you’re concerned in any way about how you’re feeling mentally or physically, it’s time to get some extra help. Talk with a supportive friend, family member or partner.
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