Cardiac psychology is a specialization of
health psychology that focuses on the primary and secondary prevention of
heart disease
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...
by incorporating strategies to address the
emotional
Emotions are mental states brought on by neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or displeasure. There is currently no scientific consensus on a definition. E ...
and
behavioral
Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as well ...
barriers to
lifestyle changes (e.g.
smoking cessation), and that seeks to enhance recovery in cardiac patients by means of providing patients tools (e.g. stress management and psychotherapy) to cope with life and physical changes associated with their disease. Cardiac psychologists can help cardiac patients across the lifespan: prevention, pre-surgery, post-surgery, and
rehabilitation
Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to:
Health
* Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished
* Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...
of cardiac disease with a particular emphasis on achieving optimal
quality of life
Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...
outcomes.
Cardiac psychology includes both
research
Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...
and
clinical practice aspects.
History
The earliest published mention of cardiac psychology in
Western medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practice ...
literature was in 1628 when
William Harvey wrote that "a mental disturbance provoking pain, excessive joy, hope or anxiety extends to the heart, where it affects temper."
Research labs have been founded at
Tilburg University,
Tilburg
Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...
Netherlands led by Dr.
Susanne Pedersen, and at
East Carolina University
East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university, public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina.
Founded on March 8, 1907, as a Normal school, teacher training school, East ...
,
Greenville, North Carolina
Greenville is the county seat of and the most populous city in Pitt County, North Carolina, Pitt County, North Carolina, United States; the principal city of the Greenville, North Carolina metropolitan area, Greenville metropolitan area; and th ...
led by Dr.
Samuel Sears, that focus on psychological aspects of cardiac disease. Cardiac psychology as a term was first used by Robert Allan, PhD, and Stephen Schiedt, MD, as a title of their 1996 book, ''Heart and Mind: The Practice of Cardiac Psychology'' and launched increased attention to the clinical practice of cardiac psychology. More recently, additional texts, such as ''Psychotherapy with Cardiac Patients'', (2008) by Ellen Dornelas, have attempted to update the literature related to clinical techniques used in the care of cardiac patients. Significant research reviews have also been published spanning psychological factors in cardiac care, implantable electronic medical devices (
pacemaker
An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart eith ...
,
implantable cardioverter-defibrillator
An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) or automated implantable cardioverter defibrillator (AICD) is a device implantable inside the body, able to perform defibrillation, and depending on the type, cardioversion and pacing of the ...
, etc.) and
congestive heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...
.
[Rutledge, T.; Reis, V.A.; Linke, S.E.; Greenberg, B.H. & Mills, P.J. (2006). Depression in congestive heart failure: A meta-analytic review of prevalence, intervention effects, and associations with clinical outcomes. ''Journal of the American College of Cardiology'', 48, 1527–37.]
Notes
References
* Allan, R., & Scheidt, S.S. (1996). ''Heart and mind: The practice of cardiac psychology''. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
* Dimsdale, D.E. (2008). Psychological stress and cardiovascular disease. ''Journal of the American College of Cardiology'', 51, 1237–46.
Dornelas, E.(2008). ''Psychotherapy with cardiac patients''. (Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association).
Pedersen, S.S. van den Broek, K.C.; van den Berg, M.; Theuns, D. (2010). Shock as a determinant of poor patient-centered outcomes in implantable cardioverter defibrillator patients: Is there more to it than meets the eye? ''Pacing Clin Electrophysiol'' (In press).
* Molinari, E.; Compare, A.; Parati, G. (2006). Clinical Psychology and Heart Disease. Springer, NY
* Rozanski, A.; Blumenthal, J.; Davidson, K.; Saab, P.; & Kubzansky, L. (2005). The epidemiology, pathophysiology, and management of psychosocial risk factors in cardiac practice. ''Journal of the American College of Cardiology'', 45, 637–51.
* Rutledge, T.; Reis, V.A.; Linke, S.E.; Greenberg, B.H. & Mills, P.J. (2006). Depression in congestive heart failure: A meta-analytic review of prevalence, intervention effects, and associations with clinical outcomes. ''Journal of the American College of Cardiology'', 48, 1527–37.
Sears, S. Matchett, M.; Conti, J. Effective management of ICD patient psychosocial issues and patient critical events. ''J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol'' 2009; 20(11): 1297–304.
Further reading
*
Paul Pearsall, ''The Heart's Code: Tapping the Wisdom and Power of Our Heart Energy'', Broadway Books, 1999,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardiac Psychology
Cardiology
Health psychology