Mental health support crucial for individuals with heart problems

Positive mind and social connection key to recovering from heart problems

Supporting the mental health and wellbeing of over 4 million people in Australia living with heart problems (CVD) is crucial to them avoiding further heart attacks or strokes.

That’s the message this World Heart Day (Friday, September 29) from the Heart Foundation because it promotes its free online peer support community – MyHeart MyLife – for people living with heart problems.

Healthcare Programs Manager Natalie Raffoul said research showed that patients can feel isolated after a heart disease diagnosis or heart event.

“In our own research, most patients expressed a powerful desire to feel a way of belonging to a community that understood their unique journeys,” Ms Raffoul said.

A heart event or diagnosis might be frightening and destabilizing and other people long for reassurance from others about their future, quality of life and the prevention of recurrent events. The MyHeart MyLife patient support group helps individuals with a CVD diagnosis feel comfortable sharing stories, searching for validation of their journey with heart disease and provoking each other to live a heart healthy life.”

Natalie Raffoul, Healthcare Programs Manager

The link between heart problems and mental health

Ms Raffoul said there was a two-way relationship between mental health and heart problems.

“Firstly, in individuals who don’t have already got heart problems, we all know that poor mental health can increase their probabilities of a heart attack,” she said.

“Then again, research shows that individuals living with heart problems usually tend to develop anxiety and depression as they adjust to a series of sudden changes to their health.

“This mental health burden can increase their probabilities of a second heart event, and that is why supporting good mental health and wellbeing is such a crucial a part of the recovery process, our recent MyHeart MyLife support group can assist people on that journey.”

Individuals with a CVD diagnosis and their carers are encouraged to affix the MyHeart MyLife peer support group: facebook.com/groups/myheartmylifecommunity