"I had the feeling of collapsing, like a building stuffed with explosives that falls on itself in an avalanche of blocks".

This sensation is the one Danièle Laufer felt on February 13, 2014, during an altercation with a colleague, and that will lead him to make a Tako Tsubo. More commonly known as Broken Heart Syndrome, this impressive pathology, mainly caused by stress, is manifested by symptoms resembling those of a heart attack.

In a book-investigation, "Tako Tsubo, a work-related sorrow" *, she highlights this evil, its consequences on health and raises the question of stress in the ruthless world of work. Meet.

Heart attack

Journalist in the women's press, Danièle Laufer says she is "used to living in shock at work". However, three years ago, when one of her colleagues invoked for no reason in front of an audience of witnesses preferring to apply the policy of the ostrich, she sees her stress level reach its limits. This "gratuitous violence" she says, which she did not expect, reaches her heart. Literally.

Heartbeat racing, black spots appear before her eyes, words that get tangled in her head ... A few days later, while still upset by this episode, Danièle believes a heart attack or stroke: "I really thought I was going to die, it was surreal," she says.

Hospitalized, the diagnosis falls: it makes a Tako Tsubo. She then spent two days in intensive care and returned home.

A heart broken by a heartache

There follows a long illness, antidepressants and a physical and mental exhaustion that cut it off from the outside world. For her, it's useless to look for the culprit far away: it was her business that triggered her Tako Tsubo.

"I would define what happened to me as a tremendous work-related grief," she analyzes. When he returns, his superiors and colleagues do not understand his malaise. Worse, they minimize his pathology. She takes things too much to heart, in fact too much according to them.

"This sort of triumphant individualism is painful to me, and today, when you get sick, you are the one responsible for your illness, you have to look strong and adapt." An ultimate affront to the one who hoped to receive a little compassion after her convalescence.

The conditions do not settle and force Danièle to stop again. Then she goes back to the office, again.

But why inflict such an ordeal again? "I can not tell, I think there may be some honor, which may seem irrational, my inner voice told me I had to go and I stayed because despite everything, I loved my job. "

Danièle does not talk about harassment or burnout, "just working conditions that undermine" and that were the source of this extraordinary stress.

A new life away from the stress of business

Today, the fear of a recurrence is always very present in the spirit of Danièle: "As soon as I have the heart that knocks too hard or that I have a headache I am very afraid. have an electrocardiogram and an echocardiogram done once a year, I still feel fragile. "

But for her, one thing is certain, there is no question of reliving such a test. "I know I can not bear the stress anymore, I've had an overdose, and in difficult situations, now I'm leaving."

Danièle finally said goodbye to work in the company, to this system with its codes, its hierarchy, its open spaces, vases in which employees do not end up suffocating and dying off slowly.

"There is something devious, violent, abnormal in the world of work, infantilization, indifference on the part of the hierarchy and an impression of not counting, and that makes people sick," regrets she.

She now works freelance in her apartment and practices yoga several times a week.

A new life to which she takes taste: "I have the impression to live again since I left, I am fragile, but stronger because I resist all that I do not want to be considered as a victim, I consider myself a warrior, I fought. "

A cry of alarm that is not romantic

She who defines herself as a person "undoubtedly too idealistic" admits that she did not know "that one could suffer so much at work, what could I shed tears for him!".

Hypersensitive? Yes, and she assumes.

"I claim a sensitivity that seems to me fundamental to live or to love.It was too much, I could not, I probably overestimated my strengths.At the bottom, I think there are people who support the stress better. than others, and this is problematic in our society. "

Danièle wants to challenge those who, perhaps, are in the same situation.

"This book is a wake-up call, I think when you're unhappy in your job, it feels good to think you're not alone, people need to realize that well-being is important, that it's not just a word and companies need to watch over their employees, we need to make sense of what we do, to have normal human relationships. "

And to conclude: "It's unbearable to be just a link in the chain."

Tako Tsubo in a few words

Tako Tsubo (or broken heart syndrome) is an acute cardiovascular disease described for the first time in Japan in the 90s. Still little known to the medical profession and the public, it is nevertheless to be taken seriously according to the French Federation of Cardiology (FFC) **.

According to a study published by the University of Zurich in September 2015, the mortality rate of this cardiomyopathy, mainly caused by emotional shocks and often associated with intense fatigue (mental and physical exhaustion), would be almost similar to that of the myocardial infarction.

Specifically, "it is a transient paralysis of a large part of the heart (left ventricle) due to a direct action of stress hormones on cardiac muscle receptors," says the French Federation of Cardiology. In short, the heart is deformed, then returns to its original shape in the space of 48 hours.

The symptoms that need to alert? Breathless shortness of breath, sudden pain in the chest, arrhythmia, unconsciousness, vagal discomfort.

An evil not to be taken lightly because the consequences in the more or less long term can be serious (acute heart failure, stroke). The most extreme being sudden death.

Menopausal women would be the first victims "because their arteries, particularly sensitive to the effects of stress, spasm more easily" and they are "no longer protected by estrogen," says the FFC.

So be careful. If there is the slightest doubt, you should consult your doctor or cardiologist or call 15 to perform a battery of tests to make a diagnosis (electrocardiogram, cardiac ultrasound, blood tests, angio-coronarography with left ventricular study and cardiac MRI).

* "Tako Tsubo, a sorrow of work" by Danièle Laufer, Ed. Links That Free, to be released on September 27, 2017.
** https://www.fedecardio.org/sites/default/files/image_article/2016-01-01-cp-tako-tsubo.pdf