“Maybe this is a stretch, so please disregard if it doesn’t apply. But in any case, it seems like something is triggered – something that is beyond your conscious awareness. One possibility why things are beyond our conscious awareness is that they were not allowed to be expressed, typically in our childhood (say we weren’t allowed to cry or show weakness), and so we have suppressed them.”

That sounds pretty accurate. My wife on the other hand will show the emotions right away, where I don’t. I should feel it at the time, but I don’t. I wasn’t sad, I was surprised but glad.

This issue with my friend’s heart trouble is actually good news as they caught it in time. Having the same procedure done myself, I’m sure that he’s feeling better (still waiting on his return call).
Unlike me, he’s healthy, active, does not have high cholesterol or blood pressure and is not overweight.

Maybe that’s the scary part? It could happen to anyone anytime regardless of taking precautions?