Why does heartbreak hurt so much? Science has the answer

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“Falling in love can feel intense and often leaves people giddy and euphoric. But severing that connection can trigger a rush of negative emotions. These negative emotions are influenced by hormones — with increases in the stress hormones cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline, and reductions in happy hormones serotonin and oxytocin within the body. These "heartbreak hormones" may also cause physical symptoms that lead people to feel pain.

The neurobiological effects of heartbreak can reach such heights that it has been likened to that of physical pain as evidenced both by self-reported physical symptoms, such as chest pain and panic attacks, and sufferers' description of their feelings, such as feeling knocked out or crushed. Heartbreak seems to involve some of the same neural mechanisms as that of physical pain. In rare cases, the feeling of a broken heart can be a medical condition known as takotsubo cardiomyopathy — or broken heart syndrome. According to the Mayo Clinic, this heart condition is brought on by high levels of stress or extreme emotions, as well as surgery or sometimes physical illness. It causes temporary changes to the way the heart pumps blood and sometimes causes the heart to pump harder, which is often experienced as chest pain.”

Read the whole article at LiveScience

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