broken heart

For other uses, see Broken heart (disambiguation).

A broken heart occurs when a human being suffers from an emotional or physical loss of another person or living being to the extent in which they began to ache and hurt inside. This is called having a broken heart, or Heartbreak.

For many people having a broken heart is something that may not be recognized at first, it takes time for an emotional or physical loss to be fully acknowledged. As Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson states:

"Human beings are not always aware of what they are feeling. Like animals, they may not be able to put their feelings into words. This does not mean they have no feelings. Sigmund Freud once speculated that a man could be in love with a woman for six years and not know it until many years later. Such a man, with all the goodwill in the world, could not have verbalized what he did not know. He had the feelings, but he did not know about them. It may sound like a paradox -- paradoxical because when we think of a feeling, we think of something that we are consciously aware of feeling. As Freud put it in his 1915 article The Unconscious: 'It is surely of the essence of an emotion that we should be aware of it.' Yet it is beyond question that we can 'have' feelings that we do not know about." ^[1]

In many legends and fictional tales, characters die after suffering devastating loss.^{citation needed]} Broken Heart syndrome is commonly attributed to the death of a person whose spouse is already deceased, when in fact it is sudden emotional stress that can be caused by a traumatic breakup, the death of a loved one, or even the shock of a surprise party.^[2] Broken Heart syndrome is clinically different than a heart attack because the patient had few risk factors for heart disease and were previously healthy prior to the heart muscles weakening. The recovery rates for those suffering from Broken Heart syndrome were faster than those who'd had heart attacks and had complete recovery to the heart within two weeks.^[3]

Symptoms

The symptoms of a broken heart usually manifest themselves through psychological pain but for many the effect of a broken heart is physical. To describe the feeling of a broken heart is almost impossible to explain to someone who has not already experienced it. However, the following emotions and feelings are associated with what is known as a broken heart:

It is an ache, a deep ache from the core of the body. It is a longing for the past, when you had what it was that broke your heart. It is the feeling that it is not worth getting out of bed in the morning for fear of the pain. It is untreatable. It is -in most cases- the loss of any respect for yourself. It is the only emotionally related syndrome which has no definite cure, some psychologists say time is the best cure whilst doctors say that there is no cure for an emotionally broken heart, whereas the more physical stress cardiomyopathy is a serious illness and must be treated.

Despite feeling a hue of depression and pain over nearly everything, the person with a broken heart must not become a recluse. Although at first one may find relief, being a recluse will only make things worse. Walking in the streets or fields is a way to refresh your mind, having time alone is helpful as it lets you think about the situation which caused the broken heart. Although the person with Heart Ache may not want to see anyone at all, it is essential that they talk to someone. Any member of his or her religious body, or even a friend (and rarely, family) are those best to seek empathy or guidance from.

Even the most extreme introvert will find it helpful to have a 'shoulder to cry on' or just to talk about how they are feeling. Perhaps even multiple.

A human heart once 'broken' can be mended, time heals a broken heart, a new relationship -in some cases- also heals a broken heart. But a human heart can be broken more than once. The symptoms remain the same. The increase in probability of contracting stress cardiomyopathy increases however.

Some scientists believe, when studying cases concerning Animal Sentience, that animals are conscious and have emotions such as joy/laughter. However, animals do not seem to suffer physical, emotional or psychological effects, such as a broken heart, from losses of any category.^{citation needed]} There are of course, exceptions. There is a report of a fully grown chimpanzee who stopped eating and died a few days later after the death of his mother.^{citation needed]} Also, elephants are known for mourning over the death of a herd member.

A web page that collects experiences of people who have suffered a broken heart, is here http://www.ehow.com/how_116958_mend-broken-heart.html It is useful to learn from other's experience.

See also

• Stress cardiomyopathy
• Heart
• Love
• Grief
• Pain
• Interpersonal relationship
• Intimate relationship
• Depression

References