Depression Plays a Major Role in the Development of Heart Disease

Depression Feelings of Isolation Leads to Heart Disease and Heart Attacks

Are you feeling unhappy, sad, down, despondent ,ejected, miserable, disheartened? Do you have sad anxious or "empty" moods? Did you lose interest or pleasures in hobbies and activities that you once enjoyed? If your answer is yes you may be depressed.

It can strike anyone at anytime, especially after a traumatic event that occurs in our lives.

However, research over the past two decades has shown that people with heart disease are more likely to suffer from depression than otherwise healthy people, and conversely, that people with depression are at greater risk for developing heart disease.

Furthermore, people with heart disease who are depressed have an increased risk of death after a heart attack compared to those who are not depressed.

Depression may make it harder to take the medications needed and to carry out the treatment for heart disease. Treatment for depression helps people manage both diseases, thus enhancing survival and quality of life.

Heart disease affects an estimated 13.5 million American women and men and is the leading cause of death in the U.S.

While about 1 in 20 American adults experiences major depression in a given year, the number goes to about one in three for people who have survived a heart attack.

This Article is part of the NIH Publication No. 02-5004 article

• Part 1 Depression and Heart Disease Article
• Part 2 Depression and Anxiety Disorders May Affect Heart Rhythms
• Part 3 Depression and Heart Disease
• Part 4 Depression Facts
• Part 5 Depression Is a Major Risk Factor for Heart Disease
• Part 6 Get Treatment for Depression
• Part 7 Exercise cures Depression and Heart Disease
• Part 8 Treatment for Anxiety and Depression in the Context of Heart Disease

If you think you may be depressed or know someone who is, don't lose hope. Seek help for depression.

You can find more information regarding Depression and heart disease at the NIH website NIH Publication No. 02-5004

Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Service National Institutes of Health National Institute of Mental Health May 2002