Psychological Factors and Cardiovascular Health

Introduction:

Mental or psychological health is crucial for overall health. Mental health includes an individual psychological, social, and emotional well-being. This health includes the person to feel, act, and think. It affects the person thinking ability, behavior, and mood. Psychological factors affect heart health because of a relationship between stress, anxiety, mental health, and cardiovascular disease. If an individual is suffering from chronic stress which leads to the formation of hormones such as cortisol. This can contribute to the development of the heart diseases such as stroke and hypertension. Depression and anxiety can lead to unhealthy habits, for example, an individual will take more alcohol and smoke, poor diet, and be devoid of exercise. Lifestyle changes including exercise, meditation, and yoga can improve mental health and cardiovascular health. The article discusses the impact of psychological factors on cardiovascular health and treatment interventions to improve it.

What Are Psychological Factors?

Psychological factors are related to mental health including emotions, beliefs, thoughts, and behaviors. These factors aid in the human mind and its functioning. This will help an individual in making decisions, responding, and interpreting information.

What Are the Common Psychological Factors That Can Impact the Cardiovascular Effect?

Several common psychological factors that can impact cardiovascular health are as follows.

• Stress: People can face stress at work, in troubled relationships, or family life. Several studies concluded that high levels of stress lead to increased chances of developing heart conditions. Cortisol and adrenaline get freed from the body due to the high level of stress. This can raise the heart rate and causes the formation of heart conditions.

• Anger: More anger can lead to the outburst of cardiovascular conditions. An individual may lead to adverse cardiovascular events after two hours of outbursts of anger. The adverse cardiovascular events include heart attack and irregular heartbeat.

• Anxiety: It is a risk factor for many factors such as weight gain and smoking. This can cause various cardiovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease.

• Depression: These psychological factors can cause the person to do activities that have harmed cardiovascular health. The activities such as being devoid of exercise, smoking, and poor diet intake hurt heart health.

• Poor Health Behaviors: Psychological factors can have an impact on the health behavior of an individual. A person who has stress and depression can engage in unhealthy coping mechanisms and higher risk of getting more weight and having heart disease.

What Are the Effects of Psychological Factors on Cardiovascular Health?

Psychological factors provide multiple benefits to heart health but also cause negative effects on cardiovascular health. Some effects of psychological factors on cardiovascular health are as follows:

• Stress Response: Psychological stress can free cortisol and adrenaline hormones from the body. These hormones can cause the narrowing of blood vessels and lead to formation of the heart diseases.

• Inflammation: Mental factors such as stress, anxiety, and depression can elevate the body's inflammation. Due to the elevation of an inflammatory response, the chances of cardiovascular diseases increase including atherosclerosis (arteries constriction).

• Autonomic Nervous System: Chronic stress can lead to an elevation of heart rate and put more strain on heart diseases.

• Sleep Disturbances: Psychological factors like stress and depression can disrupt the sleep of an individual. This has been associated with the risk of rising heart diseases such as obesity and hypertension.

• Unhealthy Behaviors: Psychological factors affect individual behavior which can increase the intake of poor diet, smoking, and alcohol consumption. Ultimately, this will raise the chances of cardiovascular conditions. People with unhealthy lifestyle behaviors will have increased weight and high blood pressure.

• Poor Adherence to Treatment: An individual with psychological factors may face difficulty in adherence to treatment for cardiovascular conditions.

• Social Support: Social support helps in maintaining the psychological relationship. Emotional and social support leads to better health outcomes.

What Psychological Interventions Can Improve Cardiovascular Health Outcomes?

Psychological intervention improves cardiovascular health outcomes. The effective psychological treatment interventions are as follows:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): The therapy helps in identifying negative behaviors and thoughts of an individual. It will also help in finding out the psychological factors that impact the cardiovascular system. It will also help in developing strategies and skills for treatment plans.

• Stress Management Technique: The healthcare provider may advise the person to do meditation and deep breathing exercises which will help in decreasing stress and which ultimately improve cardiovascular health outcomes.

• Health Behavior Interventions: Health behavior can be promoted by maintaining lifestyle changes. Problem-solving and self-monitoring can be done to promote healthy behavior.

• Supportive Counseling: Counselling will provide emotional support and improve mental health.

• Education: People should be educated with information about cardiovascular health. It will increase the knowledge and promote healthy behaviors.

• Social Support Interventions: People should involve in social support groups which will help in promoting positive relationships. Support groups and community programs help individuals by providing emotional support.

What Lifestyle Modifications Can Influence Both Psychological Well-Being and Cardiovascular Health?

Several lifestyle modifications can influence both psychological well-being and cardiovascular health. The lifestyle changes are as follows:

• Regular Physical Activity: People should engage in regular physical activity to get benefits from psychological and cardiovascular health. Because during exercise the endorphins lead to improvement of anxiety, stress, and depression. Exercise also reduces the chances of heart disease.

• A Balanced Diet: A healthy diet help in the maintenance of mental and cardiovascular health. People should increase their intake of healthy food which provides nutrients to the brain and the heart. Avoid fatty and sugary food which increase the chances of raising cholesterol and heart conditions.

• Proper Sleep: People should take proper sleep to maintain psychological and cardiovascular health. Because lack of sleep can cause mood disturbances and increase cardiovascular problems. An individual should take an average of seven to nine hours of sleep.

• Stress Management: This can be managed by doing, yoga, deep breathing exercises, and engaging in activities that bring joy to people.

• Limiting Alcohol and Tobacco: People should limit alcohol consumption and avoid tobacco use. Increase intake of alcohol and tobacco will increase depression and anxiety and further worsens the developing cardiovascular issues.

Conclusion:

Psychological factors affect cardiovascular health. The factors such as anxiety, stress, and depression will free the cortisol and adrenaline hormones which further increases the heart rate and blood vessel constriction. People should adopt healthy lifestyle measures to prevent the worsening of cardiovascular diseases. An individual should decrease the intake of alcohol and tobacco use which lead to deterioration of the cardiovascular diseases. The healthcare professional team should educate people about the psychological factors that affect heart disease and lifestyle measures to improve the condition.