Can a person die of grief? The question reopened after the death of Iranian author Marjane Satrapi, winner of the "Princess of Asturias" award and creator of the graphic novel "Persepolis." She died in Paris at 56, a little over a year after the death of her husband, after writing publicly: "I've lost the love of my life." There's no medical diagnosis called "death from grief" - but that doesn't mean the answer is simply "no."

"We don't literally die of grief, but a loss can break us so deeply that the body too begins to shut down," says psychologist Juan Nieto. Psychiatrist Javier Ruiz Blanco explains that intense pain can throw off the immune system or worsen existing conditions like heart failure or diabetes - and through those, indirectly, lead to death.

What happens in the body when we lose someone essential? Stress mechanisms kick in: cortisol spikes, sleep is disrupted, appetite changes, immunity drops, inflammation appears throughout the body, the heart's function shifts. The brain goes through something like withdrawal - the routines and identity built around that person suddenly vanish, and the system doesn't know how to function without them.

The risk is greater in older people with pre-existing illnesses, but the younger aren't immune either. Grief that stays "frozen" - when the pain doesn't ease for months, when a person can't return to daily life - needs help, not patience. Not because you should forget, but because the loss needs to find a place in the story of your life, rather than ending it.

Modern psychology no longer sees grief as an illness to be cured, but as an adjustment that needs support. Allow yourself to feel, don't isolate yourself, keep at least part of your routines, return slowly to the things that do you good. And most important - seek help when the pain becomes unbearable, when ordinary tasks become impossible, when thoughts appear that frighten even you. The question "can you die of grief" has a less important answer than the question - who is beside you when the grief is heaviest.