Tag: mental health issues after heart attack

Welcome to your new country

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 39 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥   Heart Sisters on Blue Sky

My family doctor once compared my uneasy adjustment since surviving a misdiagnosed heart attack to being like a stressful move to a foreign country.

I used to be pretty comfortable in my old country, pre-heart attack.

In my old country, I was a healthy, active, outgoing former distance runner. I had a wonderful family and a whack of close friends, a meaningful career I really loved, a crazy-cute cat, longtime community volunteer roles, a condo renovated top to bottom in a charming leafy neighbourhood of the most beautiful city in Canada – and a busy, happy, regular life.

Then on May 6, 2008, after being misdiagnosed and sent home from the Emergency Department despite textbook cardiac symptoms, I was finally admitted to the same hospital with a diagnosis of myocardial infarction – what doctors still call the “widowmaker” heart attack.

And that was the day I moved far, far away to a different country.  Continue reading “Welcome to your new country” →

“I’m not depressed!” – and other ways we deny the stigma of mental illness after a heart attack

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 13 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

“This is the most thorough review article I have seen on psychological interventions after heart events,” writes cardiac psychologist Dr. Stephen Parker* about a U.K. study on heart patients. And he should know. Dr. Steve is also a heart attack survivor himself who has explored his own profound experiences with the depression and anxiety that commonly accompany any cardiac event.

The study, reported in the British Journal of Cardiology in July 2010, followed over 400 London heart patients for two years – of whom at least half showed symptoms of anxiety or depression when first interviewed.  But the study authors described their participants in this way:

“Many of these heart patients were reluctant to accept a diagnosis of anxiety or depression and expressed reservations to the clinical psychologist by rejecting the term ‘depression’ for describing their problems, or by expressing negative views about attending a mental health service for treatment.”

In fact, these ‘negative views’ associated with the stigma of having mental health problems were so strong that all psychological interventions studied were provided to heart patients as part of a scheduled Cardiac Rehabilitation program at St. Thomas’s Hospital in London – instead of at a mental health facility.   Continue reading ““I’m not depressed!” – and other ways we deny the stigma of mental illness after a heart attack” →

Hope for the aching heart

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 3 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥  @HeartSisters

This article, written by Dr. Lisa Holland, appeared in the Columbia Notebook, Spring/Summer, 2007

“Jen, who lives with her husband and two children, recently underwent an unexpected double bypass surgery. At 50, her course of healing should have been uncomplicated. But six days after surgery, she developed a fear of being alone and would stay up extremely late because she was afraid to fall asleep.

“Over a period of several months, her once-savored walks with Toby, the family dog, dwindled down to once a week until finally she stopped walking him at all. When Doug, her husband, told her that he was worried about her, she cried.

“Through her tears she replied:

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me, all I know is that I’m scared I’ll have another heart attack.”  Continue reading “Hope for the aching heart” →

Handling the homecoming blues: the third stage of heart attack recovery

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 8 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

Today we look at the third stage of The Four Stages of Heart Illness from Dr. Wayne Sotile’s excellent book called Thriving With Heart Disease, a must-read for all heart attack survivors and those who love them. Dr. Sotile, a cardiac psychologist, describes the heart patient’s journey through a series of “separate, identifiable stages”.  He believes that your recovery will have fewer surprises if you are familiar with these four stages and know what to expect.*

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Stage 3:  Handling the homecoming blues: You’re suddenly on your own, reality sets in, and the whole team must adapt to its new normal.

You’re now home from the hospital, and you’re expected to surf a bewildering wave of emotions, anxieties and procedures. No longer are nurses and doctors checking, monitoring and calming you.  Now you have to decide what you can and cannot do, and you may feel under-qualified for the job.

What used to be simple is suddenly unbearably complex.  Making the bed, a doctor’s appointment or even a tuna sandwich can overwhelm you and bring you to tears. You feel childish and emotional and terribly alone – no matter how many people surround you at home.   Continue reading “Handling the homecoming blues: the third stage of heart attack recovery” →