EMOTIONS AND HEART DISEASE
Most of us know by now that what we eat can kill us, but there are lots of guys who have yet to acknowledge the connection between their emotions and heart disease. Yet some of our most common male emotions-social isolation, hostility, cynicism, and depression-are almost as devastating to the heart as, say, lunching on lard.
“All of these emotional problems have been found to increase the risk of heart disease and other health problems. And it’s not one or the other. In fact, they usually cluster. If you’re hostile, you’re more likely to have higher levels of depression and you’re more likely to be socially isolated,” says Redford B. Williams, M.D., professor of psychiatry and director of the Behavioral Medicine Research Center at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, and author of Life skills.
In fact, if you’re a brooding loner, you may be asked to appear in a foreign film someday, but you may not live long enough to see it on the big screen. One five-year study found that people who were socially isolated were three times more likely to die from heart disease than those who had more social lifestyles.
What’s more, research has shown that those who already have had heart attacks and were depressed were also more likely to die within six months of their attack, says Dr. Williams. And a Danish study found that those who suffered from despair, low self-esteem, difficulty concentrating, and low motivation were 70 percent more likely to die from heart disease.
“These people weren’t clinically depressed, but did have persistent symptoms of depression,” says John Ñ Barefoot, Ph.D., psychologist and associate research professor at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina.
What’s happening in these situations that increases your risk for heart problems? Anger, frustration, depression, and other emotional upsets are thought to activate your body’s fight-or-flight response-an automatic reaction that sets off a chain of internal physiological changes like a home security system gone berserk. Chemicals such as adrenaline and Cortisol, for example, rush to mobilize fat from your body’s stores in case you need a high energy source in your bloodstream to fuel your muscles-and your escape, says Dr. Williams. Not surprising, this raises your cholesterol and blood pressure and even makes your blood more likely to clot.
If that’s not bad enough, those who are socially isolated, depressed, and hostile seem to have worse health habits, making them more likely to drink and smoke, he says.
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