Can you really die of shock or from a broken heart?

Question

I've heard stories where a love one dies (usually a spouse) and shortly after the other love one follows dead. How does this happen? Normally they are in stories, but I have heard of many accounts of them being true.

How do people experience something overwhelming and all of sudden have a heart attack and die?

Answer 1

depression;

-when your depressed you lose your appetite and don't want to eat..and we all knows what happens next :[

-some people get so depressed they just unfortunatley commit suicide.

Answer 2

Shock can be very serious if not treated because the body robs some areas of blood to feed other areas. Left too long and a person can certainly die.

I believe that a person can die from a broken heart. As a funeral writer, I have seen it happen on occasion. Sometimes it takes a few weeks or months, and every so often, just a few days.

Answer 3

dying of a broken heart is a misnomer but romantic all the same.

when a couple is together for 50 years, for example, and one dies, the other sometimes loses a will to live. being lonely and sad is a very powerful thing...it takes a toll on your body and then eventually....well you know.

a "broken heart" isnt an official cause of death...but it is very real...

Answer 4

Medically speaking....no. In the medical field, everything is caused by something. They would have to put a name to it. A medical professional would not say someone died of a broken heart, they would say they died from a heart attack or something like that.

Answer 5

yes that can happen, i now of a couple his wife died and he died three weeks later, we say it was from a broken heart.

Answer 6

I would ask a Professional for the best safe answer for that one.