Tag: mental health issues after heart attack

Even heart patients can learn to be optimists

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 4 Comments

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by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

I’ve been ruminating (something that female heart patients apparently tend to do when feeling depressed) about the writing of Dr. Martin Seligman, professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the excellent book, Learned Optimism. He writes:

“Optimism is not about ignoring what’s real, but becoming aware of your thoughts about why things happen.”

What’s really at the heart of optimism, Dr. Seligman adds, is how you explain negative experiences to yourself. When something bad happens to a pessimist, she’s likely to get into a sort of dark and hopeless mental muttering that has her thinking things like:

“Why me? Ain’t it awful? It’s permanent and everything is ruined and it’s all their fault.” Continue reading “Even heart patients can learn to be optimists” →

Depressing news about depression and women’s heart disease

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 9 Comments

.by Carolyn Thomas   ♥  @HeartSisters

Women suffering from depression have higher risks of developing heart disease, and women with heart disease have higher risks of becoming depressed. I find this reality a bit depressing…

I was stunned to find myself in that latter group within weeks of my own heart attack. With no personal experience of depression, I knew something was terribly wrong with me, but I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what that might be. I had just survived a massive heart attack – shouldn’t I be feeling fabulous and grateful?  Continue reading “Depressing news about depression and women’s heart disease” →

Women’s heart disease and chronic stress

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 6 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

Cardiology researchers have recently begun calling on doctors to include the diagnosis and treatment of stress in the routine care for patients with heart disease.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, led by researchers at Université Laval in Quebec City, found that first-time heart attack survivors who returned to chronically stressful jobs within 18 months of their heart attacks were twice as likely to have a second heart attack as patients whose occupations were less stressful, and also had a markedly higher risk of death than their less-stressed peers.   click to continue reading