Psychogenic death: what it is, what causes it, and types

This phenomenon occurs when the lack of motivation to live generates biological dysfunctions.

The power of the mind over our body is very highThe mind is capable of affecting the functioning of the organism. Our heart and respiratory rhythm, Blood pressure, muscular tension level, pupil dilation or contraction, sweating, blood flow, intestinal transit, and many other similar processes are greatly affected by our mental and emotional contents.

There are known cases of people who lose the memory of traumatic events due to their mind's attempt to block certain memories, or of others who have suffered medical illnesses, convulsions, paralysis or speech problems due to causes linked to suffering at the mental level.

However, this relationship can go even further than most people think: our own mind can cause our death. This type of death is known as psychogenic death, and it is what we are going to talk about next.and it is about it that we are going to speak next.

What is psychogenic death?

Probably on some occasion we have heard of a person who is said to have died of grief shortly after the death of a very close person, or who has been left to die because he had no will to live. Although in some cases it is an interpretation of what has happened to the deceased, these types of expressions contain a truth that must be taken into account: it is possible to die from mental and emotional causes.

Psychogenic death is the name given to the death or suffering which occurs in the absence of a pathology or physical medical condition that explains the death, and which has as its principal cause the influence of the psyche on the functioning of the body and the energy needed to live..

This type of death is usually linked to the extreme experience of emotions such as sadness, fear or shame, generally linked to the suffering of some type of traumatic experience with great affectation for the person.

In many cases the subject loses the motivation to live and in fact after some time may end up dying. It is not, however, a phenomenon derived from depression or other psychiatric conditions, but simply and despite not being something intentional and intended (it would not be a form of suicide), the subject surrenders to death by losing the will to live.

What causes it?

Traditionally, it has been considered that psychogenic death is produced by some type of cardiac alteration generated by the experience of a trauma, such as a myocardial infarctsuch as a myocardial infarction or a stroke triggered by emotional stress. This is true in many cases.

However, it has also been found that many of these deaths, especially those that are not linked to fear or shame but to sadness, may have a different cause: the cessation of motivation to live.

In physiological terms, it presupposes the existence of an alteration at the level of the anterior cingulateone of the main areas that govern motivation at the behavioral level and allow the person to orient his or her actions towards specific goals, including survival orientation. The experience of certain traumatic events can cause this area to stop functioning properly, leading to a progressive loss of motivation and energy that can lead to death.

5 stages of abandonment

The so-called psychogenic death does not occur suddenly and suddenly (except in cases where the emotion generates a physiological response such as a heart attack), but it is usually possible to observe how these deaths occur over a process that can be relatively fast, lasting from a few days to months or years. In this process a series of stages or phases can be observed that will gradually bring the subject closer to the end.

1. Social withdrawal phase

During this first phase the person begins to withdraw, isolate and distance him/herself from his/her environment. There is a tendency to a certain egocentrism and detachment from the world, as well as a progressive passivity and emotional indifference.

Generally this first phase usually occurs after some kind of emotional trauma, and some authors interpret it as an attempt to move away in order to rebuild oneself.and some authors interpret it as an attempt to distance oneself in order to reconstruct oneself. It is in case of not achieving such reconstruction when the process is followed.

2. Apathy phase

A second phase, more dangerous than the first, occurs when the subject begins to notice a total lack of energy together with a feeling of strong disconnection with reality. At this point the subject may lose the instinct of preservation and stop struggling to develop and continue living.

3. Phase of abulia

Not only is the energy gone, but in this third phase so is the motivation and the ability to make decisions. There is a kind of mental numbness and a lack of mental and conscious content.

An extreme withdrawal is common and can even lead to can generate the forgetfulness of basic needs such as eating, but such as eating, but even though the subject has no capacity for self-motivation it is still possible to motivate him/her from the outside (however, in the absence of such external motivation the subject will return to a situation of intense apathy and abandonment).

4. Psychic akinesia

This fourth phase is one of the most serious, increasing the previous symptomatology in such a way that although there is consciousness there is a total lack of sensitivity. In other words, although they can feel, they are unable to react to stimuli. Even if they feel pain or discomfort, people in this state will not react or avoid harmful stimulation. or avoid harmful stimulation.

5. Psychogenic death

The last stage of the process is the one that leads to the actual death of the person, after a stage in which no amount of stimulation will cause the subject to react to the. There is no motivation to live and the subject lets go, which will eventually lead to death.

Types of psychogenic death

Although psychogenic death is usually the result of the experience of a traumatic event or the intense experience of emotions such as suffering or shame, the truth is that we can find different types of psychogenic death. Below we will see some variants of this type of death depending on what generates the lack of desire to live or the autosuggestion that they are going to die soon.

Among them we can find the death by emplacement, born from the suggestion and conditioning of supposing that one's own death will come when a specific condition occurs. The high level of emotional tension that this implies will end up causing the psyche of the subject to generate a real death. There are numerous historical records of people who have died in this way.

We also find among the psychogenic deaths the voodoo deaths, which also arise from the belief and suggestion on the part of the sufferer that having been bewitched or having broken a sacred taboo will cause death. This is one of the most common causes that people who believe in voodoo end up actually dying after being cursed, or what causes people who have been cursed to die.It is also what causes people who play with the Ouija board to suffer the same fate (which is why it is said that such acts only affect if the person believes in them).

A third type of psychogenic death is found in what is known as hospitalism. what is known as hospitalism. Hospitalism is a concept that refers to the separation of a child and his or her mother or attachment figure for a prolonged period of time. Such separation generates great anxiety and anguish in the child, who may end up losing his appetite and eventually die. This is the case, for example, of many children abandoned or separated at an early age from their parents, who end up dying without a clear organic cause due to the deprivation of affection.

A preventable type of death

Psychogenic death is not an inevitable process, but it is possible to reverse the process. it is possible to reverse the process. It is necessary to work first of all on increasing the activity of the person, as well as on his or her perception of control over his or her own life and on restructuring maladaptive and dysfunctional beliefs, whatever the case may be among those exposed.

The traumatic situation that may have generated the beginning of the process should be treated, as well as stimulating the commitment with oneself and the reinstatement of healthy habits to gradually add work on socialization and community participation. It may also be relevant to help the subject to find vital goals, reasons for living and towards which to live.reasons to live and towards which to orient oneself.

Likewise, psychopharmacology can help to promote an increase in the will to live, through the use of stimulants and substances such as antidepressants to encourage activity and reduce passivity.

Bibliographic references:

• Beebe Tarantelli, C. (2008). Life within death : towards a metapsychology of catastrophic psychic trauma. The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 84 (4): 915-928.
• Institute of Spain Royal National Academy of Medicine (1974). The meaning of pain. Speech for the public reception of the Academician-elect Excmo. Dr. Pedro Piulachs Oliva read on June 4, 1974 and answered by the numerary Academician H.E. Dr. Rafael Vara López. Madrid, Spain.
• Leach, J. (2018) Give-up-itis revisited. Neuropathology of extremis, Medical Hypotheses.