Broken Heart? Surprising Ways Your Body Can Respond To A Break Up

One thing that should be taken a lot more seriously in society is a breakup and how it can affect people going through it. So many people will write off your feelings when you tell them you just broke up with your partner. “Don’t be sad, there’s a bunch of fish in the sea” or “girl forget them, let’s go get a drink and have a good time”, can often be what you hear when experiencing the ending of a relationship. Though these statements can be true and helpful at some point during your healing journey, a breakup can do more than just make you dislike your old partner. A breakup causes people to change mentally yes, but did you know that it can also change you physically? Yes, a breakup can literally cause a broken heart.

What Is Broken Heart Syndrome?

You may know that there is something called heartbreak or even heard of a broken heart, but did you know that it’s an actual thing and not just a saying? Yes you can literally be suffering from a broken heart and it’s called Broken heart syndrome.

Broken heart syndrome (BHS) is when your heart breaks, literally. Also referred to as stress-induced cardiomyopathy. BHS is when you experience sudden and intense chest pains due to an extremely stressful event. It could come from a divorce, the death of a loved one or even breaking up with your partner. Some people may experience it after feeling betrayed, rejected or even extremely excited about a drastic and life changing event.

With broken heart syndrome, your heart enlarges and doesn’t pump the way it should or as well as it should. Though your heart can still work normally, if it doesn’t pump well that means it has to work twice as hard, which causes strain and contractions on the heart.

How This Can Be Extremely Dangerous

Broken heart syndrome is not only unfortunate to have to experience, but it can also cause many health complications, even if you’re a very healthy person.

First, it’s very similar to a heart attack. Usually if you experience chest pain because of broken heart syndrome, it will feel like a heart attack because the symptoms are somewhat the same.

Second, this condition can lead to even more cardiac health issues such as heart disease and failure because your heart is not working the way it should, causing a lot of stress on the heart.

It also can lead to severe and short-term heart muscle failure. Although very rare, extreme broken heart syndrome cases can even be fatal in some instances.