Depression Screening in Heart Patients
Heart patients have a hard time coping up with their disease as it is quite a serious one. While heart attacks and strokes themselves are pretty hard to deal with, patients get into depression as well either during their illness or after recovering from it. The reasons can be many, depending upon the situation as well as the kind of person.
Many studies have been conducted on patients suffering from heart diseases, which have resulted in the fact that depression is the key factor that causes coronary heart disease. Stages of depression might vary from one individual to the other. However, severe depression in patients can have a very bad effect on the quality of life and can cause a great problem in their lives as well.
What is depression?
Before we start on about the link between depression and heart disease, we really need to know what exactly depression is. Depression is a very serious medical illness that negatively affects the way you feel, how you spend your life, and how you think. However, the good news is that it is easily treatable.
Depression comes along with many feelings of being anxious or sad without any specific reason. It also causes a loss of interest in those activities that a person used to enjoy once. Eventually, it leads to emotional and physical problems as well as causes a stir in the thinking capability of a person. It also stops the person’s ability to work as well as carry out basic household chores.
How do depression and heart disease relate to each other?
While depression and heart disease are two different things and diseases, they really are connected to each other. In fact, both of these diseases occur to the same individual and that too simultaneously. Although it is hard to prove that heart disease is linked to depression, it is a true fact.
This is because if a person suffers from heart disease, indirectly all his things, his life, and routine get upset, and he has to go through a lot of emotional as well as physical stress. These things ultimately lead to depression. Heart attack can:
- Affect the attitude and mood of a person
- Affect positivity
- Shatter the confidence level
- Harbor feelings of guilt that the person might have which increases the risk of heart attack
- Embarrassment of not being able to be as active in life or being capable like the past
Many heart attack survivors do return to their normal lives after recovering from their surgeries and illnesses. However, for some, it gets really problematic. Uncertainty, anxiety, and depression get the better of them, and these then interfere in their daily lives and cause a huge hindrance. These then need to be treated with psychiatric support and, in some cases, with medicines to combat depression.
Heart disease recovery and depression
On the whole, the issue is quite simple. A person suffering from a heart attack and heart disease has already faced so much in life, which includes mental and physical pain that eventually leads to depression. Only those who are strong and have will power can get out of depression; otherwise, the majority of the patients fall under depression following this terrible disease. However, there is a lot that can be done to overcome the feelings of depression like cardiac rehabilitation, social support, and again doctors who will prescribe you medicines to get normal once again.
How to manage depression in heart patients?
Depression is quite common in patients who suffer from heart diseases. However, one should not ignore this issue as it can be quite dangerous if the stage of depression gets too far. In order to provide good care to the patient, it is extremely important to first recognize the depression in those patients who have CHD (coronary heart disease). Such patients must have routine screening, meet the doctor, explain their situation, and then make an appointment for the next follow-up as well.
The next appointment should be 2 to 3 months after the first one. Screening of the patient should be done once a year for patients with CHD. Those patients who get positive screening results will need further evaluation, and they need to be in touch with their doctor for further progress. The right kind of treatment should be started. If proper screening is done and then followed properly with care, it is likely that the way they deal with depression and their condition starts to get better.
Patients who suffer from depression and have CHD are responsive to cognitive behavior therapy, exercise, some drug therapies, and collaborative care. However, you should note that taking drugs without the consent of the doctor will do you no good and so you should avoid it.
Once you are done with your treatment, you will notice a great change in your life. Not only will you be able to lead a balanced life, but you will also experience improvement in your CHD results. You will start to feel positive since these treatments will make your mood better.
The bottom line
Heart disease is a common disease all around the world. A lot can be done to avoid it, and you must do it. Avoid foods that can cause narrowing of the arteries, exercise regularly, and visit your doctor regularly to get your heart health checked.
It is true that one disease leads to another, and so, the same is the case with heart disease and depression. A person who has just suffered a heart disease might start to feel anxious and then get depression. If you feel you are feeling sad or anxious without any reason and that all positivity has ended from your life, do not ignore these feelings. Visit a doctor or confide these feelings to a close friend. You might need help, and so the best thing in this situation would be to get some moral and social support. For further support, head over to South Florida CardioVascular Specialists and get all the help you need.
