Individual Written Argument.pdf - 1 AP Seminar 26 May 2020...

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AP Seminar
26 May 2020
Word Count: 1804
A Connection Between the Heart and the Mind
Introduction
A broken heart is a common symbol that characterizes extreme grief or sorrow, typically
after losing a loved one. When experiencing this phenomenon, “the heart muscle is overwhelmed
by a massive amount of adrenaline that is suddenly produced in response to stress” (Gaede).
According to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, stress is the body’s natural response to
physical or emotional abnormalities. Highly emotional news or stress can cause emotional
abnormalities, which can invoke conditions such as high body temperature, dehydration, or low
blood sugar. The body responds to these abnormalities by producing adrenaline and
noradrenaline to cope with the stress (Gaude). This is not new information however, people have
known about this response since 1990 (Komamura).
The idea of a broken heart and its accompanying physical feelings is illustrated in the
folklore literature story, “The Story of An Hour,” in which Mrs. Mallard, a woman diagnosed
with heart troubles, experiences acute emotional turmoil when finding out that her husband is
alive after she presumed he was dead from a serious accident (Chopin). The intense emotions
that Mrs. Mallard experiences are so overwhelming that her heart fails. Though Mrs. Mallard had
an underlying cardiac condition, it was reported that she died of a broken heart due to
overwhelming emotional hormones after receiving the news about her husband. In this scenario,

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extreme emotions likely contributed to her death. Mrs. Mallard’s story presents one example of
the correlation between emotional state and cardiovascular health.
Emotional well-being contributes to a prevalent cardiac disease, cardiomyopathy.
According to the medical dictionary, cardiomyopathy causes the heart muscle to be “abnormally
enlarged, thickened, and/or stiffened. The weakened heart muscle loses the ability to pump blood
effectively, resulting in irregular heartbeats and possibly even heart failure” (The Free
Dictionary). Daniel Kahnmeman and Angust Deaton, researchers at the Center for Health and
Well-being at Princeton University, assert that emotional well-being “refers to [...] the frequency
and intensity of experiences of joy, fascination, anxiety, sadness, anger, and affection that make
one’s life pleasant or unpleasant”. Cardiomyopathy UK, a heart muscle charity, asserts that
emotional well-being “is affected by our biology (our genes and how our body reacts to
situations) and our life experiences” (Cardiomyopathy UK). Well-being corresponds with
subdivisions of cardiomyopathy. There are two different subdivisions of cardiomyopathy,
genetic and acquired, as noted by Leslie T Cooper Jr, chair of the Department of Cardiovascular
Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Florida. Genetically, patients may be born with cardio deficiencies,
which increase the chances of poor cardiovascular health. Cardiomyopathy can also be acquired
after birth, not influenced by genetic disposition. Environmental, postnatal acquisition of