Psychogenic death, the phenomenon of “thinking” yourself to death
The opposite effect has often been observed too. People with a mission will often managed to survive much longer than expected but then suddenly die as soon as they perceive to have accomplished that mission.<p>An example that comes to my mind is that of Marcel Proust, who was sickly and suffered declining health for years. In the last three years of his life, we worked relentlessly on La Recherche, his life work. He managed to finish the last volume and died shortly after.<p>I'm sure there are many others.