Sudden emotional distress, such as that caused by an unexpected death, can sometimes produce severe transient left ventricular dysfunction. This stress-induced cardiomyopathy appears to be a form of myocardial stunning associated with marked sympathetic stimulation. Sudden emotional distress, such as that caused by an unexpected death, can sometimes produce severe transient left ventricular dysfunction. The potentially lethal consequences of emotional stress are deeply rooted in folk wisdom, as reflected by phrases such as “scared to death” and “a broken heart.” In the past decade, cardiac contractile abnormalities and heart failure have been reported after acute emotional stress, 1 – 6 but the mechanism remains unknown. We evaluated 19 patients with “stress cardiomyopathy,” a syndrome of profound myocardial stunning precipitated by acute emotional stress, in an effort to identify the clinical features that distinguish this syndrome from acute myocardial infarction and the cause of transient stress-induced myocardial dysfunction. Methods Study Patients Nineteen previously healthy patients were admitted . . .