While this isn’t directly tied to what normally gets discussed here, I think it serves as a fantastic reminder that our emotions and our bodies are firmly linked together in ways we don’t always expect.
Far too often, that’s a fact we forget as we get caught up in the moment–be it an emotional one or a physical one–and are left dismayed or confused when that moment passes.
What we have here is an extreme example of a normal physiological response kind of short circuiting and causing problems. Even worse, the effects look like something much more common–a heart attack.
From The Wall Street Journal Online:
Dorothy Lee and her husband of 40 years were driving home from a Bible study group one wintry night when their car suddenly hit the curb. Mrs. Lee looked at her husband, who was driving, and saw his head bob a couple of times and fall on his chest.
In the ensuing minutes, Mrs. Lee recalls, she managed to avoid a crash while stopping the car, called 911 on her cellphone and tried to revive her husband before an ambulance arrived. But at the hospital, soon after learning her husband had died of a heart attack, Mrs. Lee’s heart appeared to give out as well. She experienced sudden sharp pains in her chest, felt faint and went unconscious.
The human body is a strange and amazing thing. Second only to the human mind.
