Actually that is probably more common than you think; especially so with older generation people who have also been in a very long term relationship. It's mostly a form of extreme shock and stress at the sudden environmental change in their life and many people simple close down a large part of themselves and fail to move on and live in a little time bubble until outside influences force it into the open. They don't have to be "insane" or mentally unstable; its simply that the situation was beyond their ability to cope alone.
And yeah Fox news is pretty much the US equivalent of the Daily Mail ***also FOX canceled FIREFLY so they are clearly nuts!***