Death by broken heart A few years ago, I read “Why Zebras Don’t get Ulcers”. The author (a biologist) explained the science of stress. Basically, in pre-historic times, when a large carnivore was ready to eat Joe Smith, Joe’s biological processes were then primed to produce adrenaline and whatever other hormones that would get him the hell of there ASAP. These hormones would cause long term problems for poor ol’ Joe, but in the short term, it would solve his current problem (aka the large carnivore). With modern technology & society, there are relatively fewer imminent dangers to health. However, those same long-term detrimental biological processes that saved Joe from the carnivore can also be initiated by any form of stress (ie, relationship problems, money issues, studying for final exams, etc). 幾年前, 我睇咗“點解斑馬冇潰瘍“ 個作家(個生物學家)解識壓力嘅科學．基本上，係古代，幾時最大嘅 （肉食動物 / 食肉獸）就嚟食咗Joe Smith, Joe 嘅生物進程準備生產腎上腺素同埋咩激素都會幫佢即刻走路. 呢啲激素都會令到長期嘅問題、但係短期解決佢嘅問題 (aka 肉食動物 / 食肉獸）. 現代科技同社會,比較小啲條命凍過水．不過呢啲相同長期生物進程搶救咗Joe由（肉食動物 / 食肉獸）咩壓力都會發動。（譬如、人際關係問題、錢件事，期末考試學習, 等等） Imagine an old married couple. One partner dies. The living grieving partner is overwhelmed with stress. So much so that the stress response runs roughshod over their old & weakened body/immune system. They die as well. It’s a relatively common phenomena: old couples dying within a short time of each other. 設想個老夫婦.一個伴侶死咗．個監生悼念嘅伴侶俾壓力壓倒．咁犀利, 個壓力響應都會壓倒佢嘅老同埋減力嘅身體/免疫系統.佢死埋添．呢個係比較常見嘅現象: 老夫婦一個短期兩個都死咗． If someone told my younger self that you could die of a broken heart, I probably would’ve said that was a bunch of BS. Sometimes a person isn’t aware of all the science. Or maybe science hasn’t advanced quite enough to explain some situation. So all we are left with is intuition. I figure there must be some logical explanation eventually, but for now, I’ll go with the flow. This is how I reconciled trusting my gut instincts without sacrificing logic. 果有人講俾以前自己傷心令到你死，我可能都會講呢啲係扯淡．有時人哋唔知所有嘅科學．或者科學未先進咗俾解識呢件事．所以有剩直覺．我諗住有侖嘅答案，不過暫時, 我就順其自然． 呢個係我點（言和/化解）我嘅本能同唔使犧牲邏輯.