‘My Heart Has Been Broken’: How Does A Heartbreak Affect Us?
How can having a ‘broken heart’ affect us? Can ‘heart’ feelings really cause physical harm to our body? Discover how to deal with a heartbreak.
The pain of a relationship that has just ended is something that many people experience. In fact, we have all felt our broken heart sometime in our lives. When faced with a heartbreak or disappointment in love, no one can tell you with absolute certainty how much time you will need to heal this emotional wound. But why does it hurt us so much?
We feel the broken heart when we lose someone or something that we wanted very much: the death of a family member, the end of a relationship or when we miss an important opportunity for us.
The anguish experienced in the face of this pain can not only cause a great deal of stress, but often goes beyond our emotional state. So much so that it can affect us on a psychological and physical level. Precisely, research in this regard shows that for ‘heal’ this wounded heart It can take weeks, months, or even years to recover.
This happens because before the sadness of heartbreak, our brain ends up registering the emotional pain of anguish that we can feel in the same way as if it were physical damage. That is, being heartbroken due to a love loss causes real physical damage. Knowing this, popular phrases like ‘my heart has been broken’ make much more sense through this discovery.
The pain we feel when we are faced with a heartbreak or we have a broken heart It is because love acts in our body as if it were a drug. The reason is that when we fall in love with someone, the levels of dopamine and oxytocin increase, two hormones that make us feel really good.
On the other hand, when distress occurs, hormonal levels fall and are replaced by cortisol, the so-called ‘stress hormone’. This hormone acts in our body as a mechanism to support the fight or flight response in the face of danger. When people experience a broken heart, we usually trigger these types of responses. In the long run, if these feelings do not decrease, they can affect our body and mind in the same way as chronic stress.
How do the feelings of the heart affect us?
The anguish experienced during a heartbreak causes very intense emotional pain. As we have observed, we can literally feel as if our hearts would hurt Given these feelings, we can be affected in the following way:
Emotional pain that feels like physical pain: Have you ever wondered if emotional distress can actually physically break your heart? Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is the medical name for a ‘broken heart syndrome’ that can be caused by distress or more specifically by stress in the face of a heartbreaking situation. This syndrome that occurs when someone has ‘Broken heart ‘ causes us to experience emotional stress so acute that it can cause the left ventricle of our heart to paralyze, which means feeling symptoms similar to that of a heart attack. Luckily, this condition that we can suffer from heartbreak does not usually cause permanent damage like a heart attack can. Still, people can become very distressed because of all the symptoms they experience.
Withdrawal symptoms: The anguish caused by a love disappointment It also activates the same mechanisms in the brain that are seen when addicts abstain from substances such as cocaine and opioids. This ‘withdrawal syndrome’ when faced with the loss of love can affect our ability to think, concentrate and be productive in our day.
Intrusive thoughts: When suffering from a ‘wounded heart ‘Due to a heartbreak, it is very likely that we will experience intrusive thoughts related to the loved one. Each time this occurs it can reopen our emotional wound, reactivating the pain and triggering withdrawal symptoms.
Although people experience the heartbreak Differently, there are some ways to deal with the stress and distress caused by a ‘broken heart’:
Do not isolate yourself: One of the first temptations people have when they try ‘heal the heart It is isolating yourself from your entire closest and most intimate circle. When experiencing a heartbreak, it is important to resist this temptation to isolate yourself because the sadness, guilt, and intense feelings you experience can become very overwhelming. In these moments it is essential to get in touch with the people who care about you.
Don’t let your emotions rule you: Try not to see the end of the relationship as a failure. Instead, she thinks that this love disappointment It has helped you learn and grow as a person. Given the negative emotions you feel due to the situation, it is crucial that you do not focus on these types of thoughts: they will only make your pain increase.
Take care of yourself: Focusing on emotional, physical, and spiritual care will help you deal with a loved one’s feelings. wounded heart Eating a healthier diet, exercising regularly, and establishing a support system to turn to when you’re feeling down will allow you to move forward and learn from this process. Additionally, if you feel that you cannot cope with the situation on your own, you can always seek the help of a mental health professional.
Don’t get stuck in the past: We all have the tendency to look back on our lives, especially when we are faced with a situation of heartbreak Furthermore, in these moments we tend to have a very distorted image of what the relationship was, thinking only of the good parts that you will lose due to the breakup or distancing. Faced with these intrusive thoughts, it is important not to lose perspective: no relationship is completely bad, but it is not perfect either.
Try again when you’re ready: Many people try to forget one relationship through another. This will not only make things worse, but it will make you feel more guilty because of it. It is essential to try a relationship again when we are ready and not use it as a method of cope with heartbreak
You can’t change the past, but you can always learn from it. Especially in the case of feeling the broken heart we must focus on what we can learn both to improve internally and for our future relationships.
