I recently thought of this, and then asked a friend: Have you ever been so sad, your heart literally hurts? He said no, and was confused, so I thought I'd come here.
It's only happened twice to me, one time being when I found out about the miscarriage. When I'm feeling a really deep sadness, on and off throughout the whole day, it feels like my heart is being squeezed. It's not unbearable pain, but it's like this twinge, right where my heart is located, that gets far more intense when I'm actively thinking about what is making me sad, or start crying. I imagine it's a psychological effect?
Anyway, I wondered:
1. Have you ever experienced this, and do you think it's relatively common? (i.e, that I'm not a weirdo)
2. Does anyone have a better explanation for why it happens?