Have you ever wondered if your mental health affects your risk of developing heart disease? Or how can your heart health affect your mental health? It may not seem like a connection that many people think about, but research shows that there is a deeper connection between heart health and mental health than you might think.

Here are some ways your mental health can affect your heart health.

• If you are feeling sad, depressed, or anxious, you may resort to unhealthy habits such as smoking, drinking alcohol, eating unhealthy foods, or being sedentary. These habits can have a negative impact on your heart health.
• Experiencing stress, anxiety, depression, or PTSD can have physiological effects on your body, including increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, decreased blood flow to the heart, and increased cortisol levels. All of these can contribute to heart disease and calcium buildup in the arteries.
• Chronic stress can increase your risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke. Social isolation and loneliness can also increase your risk of developing serious heart disease.
• According to the American Heart Association®, research is increasingly showing that the biological and chemical factors that cause mental health problems can also influence heart disease.
• Mental health issues can make people with heart disease less likely to take medications or follow their doctor’s recommendations to manage their symptoms.

Here’s how heart health can impact your mental health.

• Experiencing a heart attack, heart failure, or stroke can cause anxiety and depression. This may be due to concerns about your health or sadness that you may no longer be able to do the things you used to be able to do. It may also arise from financial concerns brought on by a cardiac event. When your mental health is negatively affected, you may not have the energy or motivation to do the things you need to do to regain your strength and health, such as eating healthy and exercising, making it difficult to fully recover.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), research shows that some people are at higher risk of developing heart disease as a result of pre-existing mental health disorders. To protect your heart health, it can be helpful to talk to your doctor about potential heart conditions that may be affected by mental health disorders and what you can do to lower your risk.

If you have heart disease or have experienced a cardiac event, it’s also important to monitor your emotions and tell your doctor if you think your mental health is being affected. It is not uncommon for people with heart-related conditions to have mental health problems. The best thing you can do if you encounter a problem like this is to help treat the problem.