Depression and Heart Disease/Attack

According to latest research, 1 out of every 3 people who experience heart disease/attack; suffer from depression. Especially people who are known be weak hearted are more at risk of feeling depressed after heart attacks. Depression is a mental state characterized by feelings of sadness and pessimism followed by loss of appetite and interest in life.

It has been reported that people who live without their families are more likely to undergo depression while suffering from heart diseases. It is because the fear of death along with the fear of being lonely causes depression. However, depression was also reported in some people who lived in large families and had lots of people caring for them.

Being depressed while suffering from a heart disease or recuperating from a heart attack can make recovery more difficult and slow. Thus, to live a happy life, it is better to treat depression as it can further aggravate heart disease.

Depression and Heart Disease/Attack

A patient is liable to feel downcast or gloomy after suffering from a heart disease or an attack. This especially happens to people who have been in pretty good shape and this heart attack or discovery of suffering from a heart disease comes as shocking news.
 
Also, it is not possible to completely get cured from a heart disease or an attack as these conditions live on forever though they can be improved with medicine and diet. One has no choice but to live with it. This often brings one into a state of depression.

Depression as the result of a heart disease/attack may be expressed in different ways. Up to 65% people experience depression after having a heart attack.

Symptoms of Depression After Heart Attack

• Depressed moods that are marked by sadness
• Loss of interest in things that were previously absorbing
• Weight loss or gain through appetite changes
• Disturbed sleep patterns
• Agitation/ Irritation
• Fatigue
• Guilt or feelings of worthlessness
• Inability to focus
• Inability to take decisions
• Suicidal thoughts

In addition to the above mentioned symptoms, there may be others too. The occurrence of these symptoms depends on the intensity of the heart disease or the attack.  A depressed person is likely to have all the symptoms of depression. It means the patient should see a doctor immediately if they last for more than 2 weeks.

If these symptoms are not treated on time, they may become more intense and lead a person to suicidal thoughts and behavior.

Curing Post Heart Attack Depression

It is important to understand that depression is curable. Depression is believed to be caused by an imbalance of hormones in the brain. This imbalance of hormones is triggered by the frightening and near fatal experience that one had. As a consequence, it triggers a number of glands that secrete an imbalanced proportion of hormones.

However, this imbalanced secretion of hormones can be controlled by counseling and medication. As the patient begins to recover, the horrors of the heart attack begin to recede and with proper guidance and medicine and patient can come back to normal.

Success in Treating Depression

Up to 90% of the time, treatment for depression after a heart attack is effective. However, there are some cases in which medication and counseling are not effective. In such cases, a doctor advises the patients on the activities they should adopt to divert their attention. This helps them with boredom and thinking on their condition.

Heart diseases and attacks are no doubt a severe blow to an individual’s mind set, however, it is something that can be helped and an individual can live a normal and healthy life as before after making changes in lifestyle. There have been numerous such cases where successful treatment of patients suffering from heart diseases and attacks has been reported.

Depression and heart diseases need to properly addressed and a patient should be looked after carefully and not left alone to suffer from post heart attack depression.