Discussion Serious Question: Can you die from a heartbreak or out of sheer willingness?

[JustABitTired]

I've heard anectdotally of people ctb when a partner or a child dies. Not necessarily from self neglect but suddenly and without methods like SN.

I'm in a pretty bad place right now - I thought I recovered from last year, but I'm right back where I am with a new relationship. I can't get hold of SN for a while but I hope I can will my body to give up.

Would this be physically possible if someone genuinely wanted it?

 

[BetweenRadioStations]

Maybe the shock to your body if you're in that ill of health but it wouldn't be literally the heartbreak killing you, just would be the emotional trigger your body physically can't handle. Don't quote me on that though, just a hypothesis.

 

[CentreMid]

I've also heard that heartbreak can result in death due to heart failure or something along those lines. That being said, I'm not sure how common it is, nor do I know how easy it would be to induce such a phenomenon. My guess is that it would be extremely unlikely to consciously bring it about, but I'm not a medical expert. If anyone actually knows the answer or knows more, feel free to tell us! I'm going to stick with hanging as my method but this is an intruiging thought.

 

[glitterypearls]

It's temporary.. your heart muscle would be weak due to sudden emotional pain but It won't kill you and it only last few months. I been thinking what if you have a stroke and get no medical help, some people die from that but if someone found you when it's almost too late you might be a vegetable idk. doesn't seem like a good way to die.

 

[treetop.grazer]

i recall in particular was a prisoner being offered to be drained of blood instead of executed in India. They tied him up for the procedure and blindfolded him. Then told him the procedure was starting, they then left bags of saline dripping into buckets each side of him and the sound of the dripping he was told was the blood dripping and it wouldnt be long before he passed. Minutes later they removed his blindfold and found he had died during the experiment.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I've always thought it was possible. Even some pets pine for their deceased owners and die shortly after. Still- I guess there's no guarantee. I suppose it depends on how strong your heart and body is and just how long your state of intense despair is. I'm certain that stress and emotion affects the body but I suppose it's different for everyone.

 

[leavingsoon99]

The mind is powerful. That's a whole type of hopelessness, though, that a lot of people on here aren't trying to experience. I've come to terms with what life is for me, and that stills my nerve. However, for one's mind to will the body to shutdown is a true point of hopelessness. I've read instances of this happening.

 

[uniqueusername39]

Look up broken heart syndrome, I guess?

 

[NoLoveNoHope]

Yes it is possible. It is called psychogenic death (or voodoo death). Through extreme trauma someone can die via psychogenic death. It was given the name 'give-up-itis' during the Korean war where POWs who following severe trauma developed symptoms of extreme apathy, hopelessness and later died without any obvious organic cause. The same condition was reported in WW2, Vietnam POW camps, nazi concentration camps and shipwreck suvivors.

The generally recognized sequence of events, as enumerated by Esther M. Sternberg, MD, in 2002, stands as follows: various chemicals and electrical impulses are released that are transmitted by nerve fibers. Simultaneously, hormones are excreted from the brain, adrenal and pituitary glands in response to stress on the system. Cardiac arrhythmias are often the result of an overabundance of these hormones on the system.

In 1981, Wylie Vale, PhD, discovered corticotrophin, the brain's hypothalamic stress hormone, or CRH: this hormone secreted by the hypothalamus coordinates with "the brain stem adrenaline centers involved in initiation of the sympathetic response ... to cause a massive release of both adrenaline-like nerve chemicals and stress hormones. Together these might well cause illness, including loss of appetite, weakness, cardiac arrhythmias, and even vascular collapse that could result in death.

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There are 5 stages of psychogenic death and I'll list them.

1) Social Withdrawal
It usually happens after a psychological trauma.

If untreated it will cause apathy, emotional dulling, listlessness and self-absorbed.

2) Apathy
Apathy is a state which happens when a person loses all interest in socializing or having a life. Put simply, they stop caring about everyday things, even their passions, and interests.

3) Aboulia
Abulia refers to a lack of will, drive, or initiative for action, speech and thought.

4) Psychic akinesia
In this phase, people become in a state of existence but they're barely holding on. They're completely apathetic by this point and may even lose the ability to feel intense pain.

Symptoms include; lack of thought, motor deficit, insensitivity and reduced emotional concern.

5) Psychogenic death
It normally happens 3-4 days after psychic akinesia happens.

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Reference 1
Reference 2
Reference 3

 

[outrider567]

I've heard anectdotally of people ctb when a partner or a child dies. Not necessarily from self neglect but suddenly and without methods like SN.

I'm in a pretty bad place right now - I thought I recovered from last year, but I'm right back where I am with a new relationship. I can't get hold of SN for a while but I hope I can will my body to give up.

Would this be physically possible if someone genuinely wanted it?

Yes, something like 1% of partners die within a year after their longtime spouse dies--Lou Costello's wife died just 9 months after he died, and she was only 47--Broken Heart Syndrome is real

 

[locked*n*loaded]

I've known two older couples who have lost a spouse - my grandparents and my neighbors across the street - which was followed fairly quickly by the other spouse dying. In both cases, the wife died first and within a year-and-a-half for both, the husbands both died. My grandparents were married for 60-something years and my neighbors were married for 73+ years. Neither husband dying involved CTB, but I do think that the husbands dying so soon after their wives does have a lot to do with broken hearts. I think you can die from a broken heart under the right circumstances and I think it happens a lot, particularly amongst older couples who lose a log-time spouse.

 

[fortified-hollows]

Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy

 

[suicidalloser]

if it's heavy enough to cause a heart attack—yes. i know too the aches of a broken heart in elongated vexation.

 

[Per Ardua Ad Astra]

Yes it is possible. It is called psychogenic death (or voodoo death). Through extreme trauma someone can die via psychogenic death. It was given the name 'give-up-itis' during the Korean war where POWs who following severe trauma developed symptoms of extreme apathy, hopelessness and later died without any obvious organic cause. The same condition was reported in WW2, Vietnam POW camps, nazi concentration camps and shipwreck suvivors.

---

There are 5 stages of psychogenic death and I'll list them.

1) Social Withdrawal
It usually happens after a psychological trauma.

If untreated it will cause apathy, emotional dulling, listlessness and self-absorbed.

2) Apathy
Apathy is a state which happens when a person loses all interest in socializing or having a life. Put simply, they stop caring about everyday things, even their passions, and interests.

3) Aboulia
Abulia refers to a lack of will, drive, or initiative for action, speech and thought.

4) Psychic akinesia
In this phase, people become in a state of existence but they're barely holding on. They're completely apathetic by this point and may even lose the ability to feel intense pain.

Symptoms include; lack of thought, motor deficit, insensitivity and reduced emotional concern.

5) Psychogenic death
It normally happens 3-4 days after psychic akinesia happens.

---

Reference 1
Reference 2
Reference 3

Yes

+ Reference 4 : Dr John Leach's research :

*Organic cause = 'Fatal Dopamine depletion' - discovered by Dr John Leach in 2021 :

The medical mystery of those who "think" themselves to death

Those with dysexistential syndrome can literally will themselves to die. Medicine is just starting to understand

www.salon.com

+ References 5-8 : Dopamine vs Adrenaline for SHOCK / Broken-Heart Syndrome / Psychogenic Death

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa0907118

https://journals.lww.com/cardioplus...nic_shock__dopamine_or_norepinephrine_.1.aspx

Dopamine versus norepinephrine as the first-line vasopressor in the treatment of cardiogenic shock

Background Only a few observational studies using small patient samples and one subgroup analysis have compared norepinephrine and dopamine for the treatment of cardiogenic shock (CS). The objective of the present study was to investigate whether the use of norepinephrine was associated with...

journals.plos.org

Dopamine Injection: Shock Drug Uses, Side Effects, and Dosage

Dopamine hydrochloride is an injected medication used to correct hemodynamic status in people with shock syndrome due to trauma, open-heart surgery, kidney failure, congestive heart failure, and other causes of shock syndrome. Common side effects of dopamine include disordered breathing, nausea...

www.medicinenet.com