An arrow through the heart...

Through experiences I have grasped that heart ache does not only exist in its figurative form, but its literal pain is as real as it can get.

A heart break is supposed to be a metaphor, so someone please explain why its effects of acute discomfort are so tangible and physically felt.

"I never knew until that moment how bad it could hurt to lose something you never really had." When you read something like that, especially if you had direct relation, the pang is right there, short but sharp.

Or even reading or hearing about peoples' passing on, it can really strike you.

Makes me wonder if it occurs because you sympathise or empathise. Or perhaps it is both.

ps: Not that I'm heartbroken at the moment..
but yes I'm really curious as to why we feel a literal pain? What causes it? Emotions that make your blood pressure soar, inflammation of tissues and somehow cause your heart to constrict? Perhaps at that moment somehow there was a brain activity from those wild emotions that causes heartburn hence the pain.
Hey that's a thought.