Healing From Heart Failure: A Recovery Journey
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It’s normal to experience a range of emotions with a heart failure diagnosis. From fear to anxiety to depression and anger, a weakened heart can also negatively impact your emotional health.
The emotional and mental aspects of living with heart failure are less often discussed, yet affect most patients, according to the American Heart Association.
While many heart failure patients cope with discouraging feelings, there are plenty of good reasons why it’s best to approach your new normal with a positive mindset rather than negativity to have the best possible quality of life.
Our Emotions Are Powerful
Studies show that having a positive outlook offers real benefits. Johns Hopkins researchers observed that people with a positive outlook were less likely to have a heart attack or other cardiovascular events, even among those with a family history of heart disease.
While heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, Black Americans carry a disproportionate burden of this disease. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, Black patients are diagnosed with heart disease at a younger age and are 30% more likely to die from heart disease compared to their white counterparts.
“A lot of this has to do with socioeconomic factors and having access to quality healthcare,” says Dr. Christopher Irobunda, a clinical and interventional cardiologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
Emotional health, or the ability to cope with both positive and negative emotions, can also affect how patients care for themselves as well. According to the American Medical Association, negative emotional states like fear, anxiety and depression are associated with medication nonadherence or not taking medications as prescribed.
According to the American Heart Association (AHA), heart failure drugs save lives, prolong life and improve heart function. Sticking to your medication regimen exactly as directed by your healthcare provider ensures that you are getting the most out of your treatment.
Caring for Our Emotional Health
So how can we take good care of our emotional health despite a heart failure diagnosis? The answer lies in facing your feelings rather than avoiding them, experts say.
“Being emotionally healthy isn’t the absence of those negative feelings. Rather, it’s being aware of them and being able to manage them,” writes Dr. Eman Hamad, Director of the Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Program at Temple University Hospital. “Emotional health gives you the freedom to experience feelings, knowing they will come and go and don’t have to affect your overall health and happiness.”
Here are some time-tested ways to care for your emotional well-being while living with heart failure.
1. Talk it out with a friend
Sharing your worries can make them seem less overwhelming. Let it out. Lean on a trusted friend or family member who you can confide in about what you are feeling. Studies have shown that talking through negative feelings with a friend has healing properties. Similarly, writing about our emotional experiences has also demonstrated positive effects on mental and physical health.
2. Find comfort in community
You don’t have to go it alone. Having the support of a community can make a vital difference in your heart failure journey. Mended Hearts has hundreds of local support groups, and Heart-Failure.net provides a trove of personal essays and relevant, relatable articles about living with heart failure. Another way to connect is the American Heart Association’s online forum. These are great resources to start with.
3. Take control of your heart health
Take charge of your health. Making key heart-healthy lifestyle changes, like eating a low-sodium diet and staying active, can feel empowering. Ask your doctor about what you can do to improve your heart health. “Learn as much as you can about heart failure—fear of the unknown can increase anxiety,” writes Dr. Hamad.
4. Make time for what makes you happy
It can be easy to lose yourself in times of difficulty. This could be the perfect opportunity to explore new hobbies or rediscover past joys. Make time for fun or just to relax. Get outside, volunteer in your community and learn something new. Doing something different will refresh your routine and, most likely, your mood.
5. Address your mental health
If you’re seeking additional support, talk to your doctor about what may work for you. Talk therapy and medication are tools that may benefit your mental health, which encompasses our emotional, psychological and social well-being. While historically, Black Americans have had significantly lower rates of access to mental health services compared to whites, organizations like the Black Mental Health Alliance are changing attitudes about mental health care and shedding light on culturally-relevant approaches to challenges that speak to the Black experience.
Living with Hope
While many of the feelings that arise from living with heart failure tend to be difficult, hope is also among them, according to the American Heart Association. “Even people who are very ill say they feel a sense of hope, if only for a moment, an hour or a day,” writes the AHA.
Staying informed, monitoring your condition, and celebrating your treatment goals are effective ways to feel more hopeful.
Healing from heart failure involves caring for not only your physical health but your emotional health as well. Do something to nurture your emotional well-being today. Your heart (and mind) will thank you for it.
