[srean]

Has there been any study that analyses the frequency of natural death of one shortly after death of his/her partner. How different is that compared to what one would expect assuming statistical independence and based image and health adjusted mortality curves.

[klaussilveira]

Yes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widowhood_effect

[srean]

Thanks.

[rustyhancock]

Does it say what happened?

Died of sadness did make me wonder about something self inflicted.

[MattGrommes]

That's always a possibility but I've seen my Grandpa die of a broken heart after my Grandma died. The night of her funeral he asked his children if they thought someone could die of a broken heart and after that it took him less than a year to go himself. I'd never considered that saying to be true until then but I watched it happen.

[jagaerglad]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takotsubo_cardiomyopathy

"It usually appears after a significant stressor, either physical or emotional; when caused by the latter, the condition is sometimes called broken heart syndrome"

[srean]

Probably happens to other social animals too.

[gedy]

Yes, I also took it to be a tactful-as-possible way to say that.

[srean]

Same here but was curious about stats of broken heart syndrome anyhow.

[agumonkey]

I'm curious about it too.

[pvaldes]

Don't know the details, didn't read the comic, and don't really have a personal interest on the history so what follows is just general speculation. She looked depressed enough to commit suicide. Is a fact also that people that orbit around drugs, tend to die younger, by suicide or by the effects of the drugs.

In any case if two relatively young people die in a short interval of time would be wise to look for environmental effects. Oil pigments have chemicals, and some colors were removed for being notoriously unsafe. Going further, slow poisoning to eliminate opponents with the benefits of plausible deniability is trendy among some criminals unfortunately. If somebody "dies of grief", research for discarding a hidden toxic should be started, just to be safe.

[ksajadi]

In a previous life I used to model insurance payouts for residential mortgages. The average we used was within 7 years.

[TomMasz]

I am currently in that situation, and I can tell you it's a battle to keep the darkness away when you suddenly find yourself alone. I'm managing, with help, but not everyone can.

[combray]

My wife suddenly died 4 years ago, we had 3 little kids at the time. You need to focus on a) being kind to yourself, whatever that means to you and b) the good things about the change. All change has good parts and bad parts, and it's easy to focus on negative things. Especially with a death since in magnitude they are probably greater than the good things. But if you focus on what you lost you will simply lose the rest of yourself.

I also think that women have a harder time with this than men, possibly because maternal death in childbirth used to be so much more common. But this is just a guess. Certainly until it happens to you its not the sorts of things that you think about too much, and once it does happen you tend to speak to people who are going through the more acute phase of it since they are still actively processing it.

[srean]

Indeed. It is probably the most significant thing that ever happens to a person. My sincere condolences.

I have not dealt with such a change but have dealt with grief. Try to catch the sun rise. It is incredibly beautiful.

It will probably hurt because the instinct is to want to share the beauty to enjoy it. The good thing is that you can, with the version of your significant one you hold in your mind. I am serious, do catch the sun.

Grief hits in overpowering waves. Over time there is space between the waves. They will always be there but they become survivable.

All the best.

[croisillon]

you don't even have to be partners https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Cocteau#Death