Have You Ever Wondered How Heartbreak Affects Your Health?

1. Heartbreak on Your Brain

When it comes to what heartbreak does to your brain, the first thing that I found to be interesting is the fact that when you’re in a (semi) serious romantic relationship with someone, the part of your brain that is activated is called the caudate nucleus; it’s the same part that inspires and motivates you. And y’all, that is why, when you’re in love, you tend to want to do whatever you can to keep your partner happy.

On the other hand, when the relationship ends and you are in the process of healing from it, a part of the reason why the pain is so heavy is because it takes a while for your brain to catch on to the end of the dynamic — and so, it actually waits to feel stimulated in the way that it was used to and, when it’s not rewarded in that way, dopamine levels drop and profound sadness typically comes as a direct result.

Oh, something else to keep in mind is research reveals that love is an ultimate and literal painkiller, so much to the point that it activates the same part of your brain that a cocaine high does. So, when that sensation no longer exists — like crashing from a drug…your lows can end up being…very low.

Heartbreak on Your Heart

A few years ago, another writer for the platform wrote an article entitled, “Broken Heart Syndrome - Yes, It's A Real Thing.” It actually discusses some of the impact that heartbreak has on the heart itself. The technical term for broken heart syndrome is takotsubo cardiomyopathy; it’s what can happen to your heart when you encounter highly stressful situations (like a break-up). The symptoms can range anywhere from shortness of breath and irregular heartbeats to a drop in your blood pressure, chest pains and even fainting.

Interestingly enough, you are more at risk for broken heart syndrome if you’re a woman or if you’re 50 or over. Anyway, since broken heart syndrome mimics a heart attack in a myriad of ways, if you are feeling any of this, you should alert your physician. They can run tests to diagnose what is really going on.

Heart Heartbreak on Your Immunity

Although you may have never actually thought that heartbreak could wreak havoc on your immune system, once I break down how, I think it will make perfect sense to you. That said, I don’t know about y’all but whenever I go through a break-up (or a huge relational disappointment), it tends to be hella stressful. And stress and immunity are not friends.

For one thing, stress can cause inflammation throughout your immune system and, when that happens, that can weaken your immunity which can make you more susceptible to getting sick (or it taking longer to get over being under the weather). Just one more reason to take healing from heartbreak seriously.

Heartbreak on Your Digestive System

Speaking of stress and your immune system, since 80 percent of your immunity is in your gut, it would also make sense that a broken heart could result in your digestive system being a bit compromised as well. In fact, some health experts say that if you’re noticing abdominal discomfort, acid reflux, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea and you’re currently going through a stress-filled situation like ending or grieving a relationship, that could be why you’re experiencing those types of symptoms.

Heartbreak on Your Hormones

Think back to when you were in the beginning stages of the best relationship you ever had. If one way that you would explain the feeling is if you were walking on air, to some extent, that’s not an exaggeration. The reality is that being in love/a healthy romantic dynamic causes your dopamine (it makes you feel good) and oxytocin (it causes you to bond to other people) levels to surge — both of which are natural hormones in your system.

And then, when heartbreak happens, the stress hormone cortisol starts to go into overdrive which can cause you to become anxious, have trouble sleeping and to possibly experience depression-related symptoms. The neurotransmitter serotonin tends to tank too which causes you to have a loss of appetite, to not sleep well and to possibly even have hot flashes.

Heartbreak on Your Nervous System

Since some health experts say that going through a break-up can impact you on basically the same level of someone close to you passing away — and that can put your nervous system through quite a bit too. For instance, something that I found to be interesting is that, according to science, the two nervous systems that typically keep each other in balance (the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems), they both end up amplifying which causes them to “miscommunicate” — and this can lead to lots of anxiety or to becoming a bit emotionally erratic.

Heartbreak on Your Energy Levels

Emotional exhaustion is absolutely a real thing and heartbreak is one of the top issues that can lead to it. That’s because, when you are going through the process of ending a relationship, it can lead to overthinking, feelings of regret, going through multiple “closure conversations” — things that are stressful and can really take a lot out of you. As a result of all of this, you may not want to eat, you may become a temporary insomniac, your cycles may be unpredictable and you might have headaches too.

Heartbreak on Your Skin, Hair & Nails

Face breaking out? Hair not growing? Nails more brittle than ever? If you’ve recently broken up with someone, that could be the reason why. As we’ve already discussed, few things are more stressful than the end of a serious relationship and another way that stress can take its toll is in your appearance.

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Geeze. I know, right? Is this the most feel-good article in the world? Probably not. I do hope that it keeps you from gaslighting yourself — or allowing others to do it.

If you are going through a heartbreak and you’re not currently feeling like yourself, as you can see, it’s not “all in your head”. Some of what you’re feeling/experiencing can be very real and deserve to be handled with care.

Heartbreak is hard. Take care of you.

ALL OF YOU, please. Your mind, body and spirit need it.

Science says so.

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