Stupid study of the week time. Distress, fear often beset heart attack patients:
A substantial number of patients in the initial stages of a heart attack or severe chest pain crisis -- events lumped together as "acute coronary syndrome" or ACS -- experience extreme stress and fear of dying. This can lead to long-lasting depression and anxiety, according to a new study.
...
The factors that trigger depression after a heart attack "differ in several respects from those for depression in general," Steptoe's team notes. "Greater understanding may accrue from more precise delineation of the trajectory of emotional responses, including factors preceding symptom onset, acute fear and distress during the early symptomatic phase, and later development of depression and anxiety."
They needed a study for this?! I'm nearly four years post heart attack and I'm STILL depressed and frightened, though not nearly as badly. Honest to crimony. There are times I really wonder about Western medicine and this is one of them.
Categories: heart_attack, study, depression, stress, anxiety
Technorati Tags: Healthy Living
