CHD in Little Mermaids

General Questions
#1

A Valentine’s Day question:

Is it actually possible to die of a broken heart?

In other words, can the physiological responses to grief be so extreme as to result in the death of an otherwise healthy person? Obviously, I am ruling out depression-induced suicide where the cause of death is some secondary mechanism. I can believe that emotions of the anger/fear kind could potentially dump enough adrenalin into the bloodstream to screw up the heart of even a healthy person, if they were extreme enough or lasted long enough. But does sadness have any similar capacity? Beyond brain serotonin changes, what exactly are the physiological responses associated with being sad?

Finally, is there any properly documented case of anyone anywhere actually dying of grief (who did not have a preexisting condition)?

The question gives you some idea of my attitude toward this particular holiday.

#2

Doesnt this happen to animals sometimes? In a way… not sure if this directly answers anything, but ive heard of a lot of instances where there are two very old animals (usually cats, dogs, birds), that have been together since birth, and one of them dies, then the other dies a short time later.

#3

People too, s/c.

#4

I can’t figure out what the hell the title of this thread refers to.

#5

Does “self-starvation” count as suicide?

#6

I can imagine a scenario where someone is so grief-stricken that they lack the energy to keep their heart beating, their stomach digesting, etc. IOW, they die from, essentially, a lack of interest in living. Not exactly suicide, not exactly death related directly to the grief response, but you get my drift.