On 17th May 2022, a boy whom barely turned 18 a day before, purchased a semi-automatic rifle along with 375 ammunition bullets. 7 days later, Robb Elementary School of Texas experienced one of the most devastating school shooting in U.S history, leaving 19 children and 2 adults dead. Pain & anguish that left the town of Uvalde in distraught, emotional scars that ran deep never healed. One of the teachers that died, Irma Garcia, did so in her love and protection of the children. Took a bullet as a human shield, regarding her students as her own. Her husband, Joe Garcia, lamented and consumed by grief, died 2 days later on 26th May 2022. It was eventually ruled as a cardiac arrest, which was exacerbated by a broken heart, a pain that ran deep and never to have found peace. He was 50 years old at that time, having married to Irma for 24 years, a love that developed out of 2 high school sweethearts – an inseparable bond just as lovebird parrots are.
This tragedy highlights our dependency on a stable state of emotional wellbeing. It is part and parcel of longevity. Bereavement that leads to a broken heart, can trigger an adrenaline surge bringing about a calcium overload and uncontrolled arrhythmia (Harding, 2022). Adrenaline, as we all know, gets us into fight or flight mode by sending calcium into heart cells for a forceful beating. However, in an adverse event of heightened and prolonged adrenaline rush into our cardiac system, Harding (2022) unveiled that the cardiac muscle enters into an unusual pattern of partial paralysis. This is also known as stress cardiomyopathy. Complications of broken heart syndrome include arrhythmia, pulmonary edema, heart failure (Mayo Clinic, 2023). It is perhaps the reason why panic attacks might give rise to a sensation of heart attack when triggered.
While stress cardiomyopathy is an acute level event, chronic stress and depression do have its toll on our hearts. It may be due to combination factors such as sleep loss, lack of physical activity, smoking, alcoholism, poor diet, or many other combination factors. Moreover, research by Coutsoumbas et al. (2020) suggests that long term prognosis of stress cardiomyopathy may pose higher risk of mortality as well.
It is thus important and crucial, that we seek support, practice mindfulness, and consult professional help when dealing with adverse events affecting our mental and emotional wellbeing significantly. A consistent finding among centenarians highlights a sense of purpose, respect, and social interaction (Kim et al., 2020). Perhaps the simple start to a long and fulfilling life, is to safeguard our emotional wellbeing. More importantly, we are highly social beings that seek dependence on our communities.
“There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.”
– Margaret J Wheatley.
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References
Kim ES, Shiba K, Boehm JK, Kubzansky LD. Sense of purpose in life and five health behaviors in older adults. Prev Med. 2020 Oct;139:106172. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106172. Epub 2020 Jun 25. PMID: 32593729; PMCID: PMC7494628.
Harding, S. (2022). Yes, You Can Actually Die of a Broken Heart. Time Magazine. Available at: https://time.com/6236104/broken-heart-syndrome-death/
Vassiliki’ Coutsoumbas G, Gallo P, Zagnoni S, Di Pasquale G. Long-term injury after Takotsubo syndrome (stress cardiomyopathy). Eur Heart J Suppl. 2020 Jun;22(Suppl E):E73-E78. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/suaa065. Epub 2020 Mar 24. PMID: 32523444; PMCID: PMC7270968.