# Why does it physically hurt when you're heartbroken? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 1, 2006, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-physically-hurt-when-youre-heartbroken/346579 "2006-03-01T05:51:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![metformin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@metformin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metformin)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-physically-hurt-when-youre-heartbroken/346579/1 "2006-03-01T05:51:02Z")
Not like someone hit you and said “you’re a creep”, but that physical pain deep inside. Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-physically-hurt-when-youre-heartbroken/346579/2 "2006-03-01T06:00:05Z")
[http://dsc.discovery.com/news/afp/20031006/heart.html](http://dsc.discovery.com/news/afp/20031006/heart.html) ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-physically-hurt-when-youre-heartbroken/346579/3 "2006-03-01T06:09:41Z")
On another note I know it is tied into adrenaline, at least somewhat. [http://newsfromrussia.com/science/2005/02/10/58201.html](http://newsfromrussia.com/science/2005/02/10/58201.html) [http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail2817.cfm?Id=0,45805](http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail2817.cfm?Id=0,45805) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stress\_cardiomyopathy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stress_cardiomyopathy) I know that PTSD is tied into adrenaline and that there are experiments with using beta blockers to prevent PTSD because beta blockers block the receptor that adrenaline attaches to. Whether this applies to heartbreak is something that should be researched. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4722225.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4722225.stm) ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-physically-hurt-when-youre-heartbroken/346579/4 "2006-03-01T07:27:02Z")
Short answer: For the same reason you ‘see & hear’ things when you’re dreaming even though there’s nothing physically there. Because everything happens in your brain including pain, physical or emotional… ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-physically-hurt-when-youre-heartbroken/346579/5 "2006-03-01T15:03:01Z")
They said she died from a stress cardiomyopathy, but I know she died from a broken heart… I’ve never experienced heart pain from a broken heart, but I have experienced the feeling that, even when not crying, my lungs were filled with fluid, as if I had been crying for hours. I wonder if perhaps I thought it was in the lungs but was really in the heart all along? ---
**Author:** ![Burrido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Burrido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burrido)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-physically-hurt-when-youre-heartbroken/346579/6 "2006-03-01T20:03:19Z")
When my sister passed away I developed pain in my throat area/upper chest. After having it nag at me for a couple weeks I went and saw my doctor. Turns out anxiety was making me clench some muscles around there and giving me cramps. I didn’t take any medication and it went away after a while. It was better just knowing that it wasn’t something serious.