Ask Marilyn

Is it possible for someone to die from exhaustion? And if so, how?

—Andrea Price, Grafton, Wis. If a person has been active in an extreme way for a lengthy period of time, so much that the behavior could be called absurd, death from a heart attack is possible, but only if the person had an underlying heart condition. Otherwise, the event is too rare to consider.

This doesn’t mean that pushing yourself excessively is safe. Such ongoing exhaustion may lead to the same problems caused by stress from outside sources: chronic fatigue, anxiety, depression and—surprisingly, in the case of exhaustion—insomnia. And if the stress continues unabated long-term, immunological deficiencies may occur.