Fear of recurrence
Written by Dr Dr Stephanie Mathews, ACHH Clinical Psychologist
Almost everyone who has had a heart attack will, from time to time, experience thoughts and fear about having another one. While this is typical during recovery, for some people these thoughts and worries can become a persistent problem.
For some people, the fear of another event creates extreme attention to bodily sensations, including a focus on pain, tightness in the chest, and other bodily feelings. This focused attention on the body is called ‘threat monitoring’. Threat monitoring refers to increased attention to signs of another possible heart attack, with the aim of preventing it occurring or seeking help quickly.
Some threat monitoring is helpful and adaptive. For example, it is important to attend regular check-ups with your doctor and to seek medical attention if there is a new pain in your chest. However, excessive monitoring (that is, above what your doctor recommends) may contribute to heightened feelings of worry and can exacerbate low mood.
Sometimes people don’t realise how much attention they are giving to these thoughts, feelings and body sensations. Attention is like a muscle. If we don’t exercise it regularly, it can become weak. Attention training can be helpful in noticing when our attention has wandered and being able to bring it back to the present moment. This is not about getting rid of thoughts of having another heart attack but, rather, being able to refocus on what you value. For further information on attention training, the following worksheet may be helpful: Introduction (health.wa.gov.au)
Even when we build strong attention muscles, it can be hard to refocus our mind. When this happens, it can be helpful to postpone our worries until a set time each day. There are now apps that can help you in managing your ‘Worry Time’ (ReachOut WorryTime | ReachOut Australia). For more information, the following handout may be helpful: Information Sheet - Postpone your Worry (health.wa.gov.au)
If your worry about having another heart event is causing problems for you, it is ok to ask for help. Our Cardiac Counselling Clinic provides specialist psychological support for those experiencing difficult emotions following a cardiac event. For more information, please call us on 03 9326 8544 or visit our Cardiac Counselling Clinic page
Dance to better health
Written by Ms Hema Navaratnam, ACHH Research Fellow
We all know that regular movement is important and so keeping it enjoyable is a good way of staying active. We’ve all attempted to dance, whether it was at our school dance event, a night out with friends or on a family occasion. The experience is generally fun and a good way of connecting with people, creating fond and perhaps long-lasting memories. For some of us, dancing can also be strongly linked to our sense of identity, our culture and community and a wonderful way of passing on tradition.
In general, dancing is multi-dimensional providing us with the physical, emotional, social and cognitive benefits. Some would say it is brain food, improving our spatial memory (Merom et.al., 2016) as we learn new steps to a dance routine and even reducing the risk of dementia (Verghese et.al., 2003). Additionally, when we start to become familiar with a dance routine, our confidence improves; and we start to relax into the movements. This skill development naturally fulfills our sense of achievement and enjoyment, both being significant components to our psychological well-being.
According to research, moderate intensity dancing can also benefit our cardiovascular health. The high intensity bouts during dancing, the psychosocial benefits and the lifelong adherence are some of the factors related to health gains (Merom, Ding, Stamatakis, 2016). So, whether it is a twirl, a shimmy or a trot, our hearts seem to like it.
There is always a variety of dance types to choose from, with local community centres and dance studios running classes at all levels. If joining a class for the first time or returning to dancing after being away for a while, it is generally a good idea to check in with the doctor, prior to donning those dancing shoes.
References:
Merom D, Ding D, Stamatakis E. (2016). “Dancing Participation and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality: A Pooled Analysis of 11 Population-Based British Cohorts.” Am J Prev Med. 50(6):756-760.
Merom, D., et al. (2016). "Cognitive Benefits of Social Dancing and Walking in Old Age: The Dancing Mind Randomized Controlled Trial." Front. Aging Neurosci. 8(26).
Verghese, J., et al. (2003). "Leisure Activities and the Risk of Dementia in the Elderly." N Engl J Med. 348(25): 2508-2516.
Get involved in our research
Would you be interested in participating in one of our current research studies undertaken by the Centre?
If you have attended our Cardiac Counselling Clinic or have participated in any of the other services we offer through the Cardiac Wellbeing Program, you are most welcome to participate in the studies that we are currently undertaking. One of our current studies is called the Cardiac Distress Study. The Cardiac Distress Study aims to understand more about the range of emotions that cardiac event survivors experience during their recovery.
To participate, all you need to do is answer a one-off online anonymous questionnaire, which takes about 15-20 minutes to do.
You can find out more about the Cardiac Distress study and access the questionnaire by clicking here
We hope that, with the information we gather through the Cardiac Distress Study, we can help cardiac patients in the future to adjust successfully after their heart event.
The Cardiac Distress Study is part of our broader research program on Cardiac Emotions. We are partnering with Stanford University in the US, University of Suffolk in the UK, and Monash and Barwon Health in Victoria, making this an important international study.
Share your story about our Cardiac Wellbeing Program
If you would like to share your story about how the services we offer through the Centre’s Cardiac Wellbeing Program have helped in your cardiac recovery, please email us at heart@australianhearthealth.org.au. Through our patient and donor newsletters, we can share your story with other cardiac event survivors and our supporters.