Broken heart syndrome or stress-induced cardiomyopathy is increasing across all age groups and genders. However, among women aged 50 to 74, it has gone up six to 10 times in the last decade. And that's a huge jump! In fact, 88% of the people diagnosed with this condition are women over 50. It’s also concerning that hormone fluctuations have been eliminated as a cause or contributor as well as a genetic predisposition. In light of these facts, in this episode, we break down the symptoms and causes of this condition. We discuss the problem of high stress and the lack of knowledge on how to properly handle it before giving some tips on everyday things you can do to relieve stress. We discuss why we think it affects women more than men, why it affects the generation of women between the ages of 50 and 74 specifically, and how we feel these figures may change when our kids’ generation reaches that age, factoring in changing gender roles, perceptions of therapy and anti-depressants, and boundaries. This condition can affect millions of women per year, so tune in today to discover the dangers of self-diagnosing, the importance of seeking medical care, and helpful tips to prevent it.

Key Points From This Episode:

• An introduction to today’s topic: Broken Heart Syndrome. 
• How the cases among women aged 50 to 74 have gone up six to10 times in the last decade.
• The symptoms of Broken Heart Syndrome and how they are similar to a heart attack.
• Shocking statistics about Broken Heart Syndrome.
• What causes it: chronic levels of high stress or a sudden instance of high stress. 
• The problem of the lack of knowledge on how to properly handle stress. 
• Everyday things you can do to relieve stress.
• How we crave comfort food when stressed but this is not conducive to helping us deal with it. 
• How hormone fluctuations were eliminated as a cause or contributor to this condition.
• Megan and Kelly speculate on why they think women are affected more than men.
• How Megan and Kelly think these figures may change when their kids’ generation reaches that age. 
• The vast generational differences in people’s perceptions of therapy and anti-depressants.
• How Megan and Kelly’s kids’ generation has much healthier boundaries. 
• How science indicates that this is not something that is genetically predisposed but caused by environmental factors. 
• What physically happens to your heart when you get stress-induced cardiomyopathy.
• Some of the emotional stressors that can induce it. 
• How the symptoms sound similar to a panic attack, the dangers of self-diagnosing, and the importance of seeking medical care. 
• Kelly and Megan reflect on some of the women that they have lost.
• How we as women and mothers tend to take care of ourselves for others instead of for ourselves.

Tweetables:

“You might know exactly what's causing this chronic stress in your life every day, that might be pushing you towards that 88%. You have all the power in the world to take over your life and take over your self-care.” — Megan Block [0:30:09]

“If there are things and people in your life that are just the cause of this stress, feel free to put your foot down and put some boundaries up and watch things change.” — Megan Block [0:30:38]

“We would hope that the people closest to us would want what is best for us and would want our mental health to be great and our physical health to be great. If that is not the case, you don't owe anybody a relationship, you really do not, just as no one owes you one.” — Kelly Castillo [0:31:00]

“If you're trying to guess or self-diagnose that you're having a panic attack, maybe don't do that? Maybe go to the emergency, because it could be something way more serious.” — Kelly Castillo [0:42:40]

“I mean, in