We’re all a bit in shock in the disaster of Carrie Fisher’s departure, and her mom Debbie Reynold’s passing the next day. The two were infamously close after having some tumultuous years, they even lived next to every other in Los Angeles.
Debbie has said of Carrie and her brother Todd “I was really blessed, very blessed to have these kids. I was only fortunate.”
There’s a scientific reason losses like this aren’t unusual. Colloquially called “broken heart syndrome” the worry of losing someone has real physical symptoms. !
An emotionally disastrous scenario can activate “stress cardiomyopathy”, a group of disorders “in which there’s a surprising temporary weakening of the muscle piece of the heart.” If you’ve ever experienced stress or depression (or even only saw a scary film) you understand the way your body is able to demonstrate the features of your disposition. Here is the extreme end of that. !
We don’t understand if Debbie’s departure was due to this particular type of cardiac pressure, but it’d be clear if she died of a broken heart.
