What kind of emotional stress causes heart diseases? Doctor explains

Stress is an automatic human response to difficult or overwhelming situations. When it is short lasting, it generally is beneficial in motivating us to achieve the difficult task but when the stress is prolonged then it generally causes unhealthy effects on our physical and psychological health. The stress response has an emotional or affective component which gives rise to a myriad of generally negative emotions like worry, fear, frustration, sadness and much more.

Dr. Trideep Choudhury, Consultant Psychiatrist, Department of mental health and behavioural sciences, Fortis New Delhi says, “One of the vital organs of our body which is affected by long standing stress is our heart. In response to stress, our body releases the stress hormone known as catecholamines. These stress hormones increase the oxygen demand of our body to enable our body to proactively respond to the stressor. Prolonged need for increased oxygen demand means the heart is overworking for prolonged duration.”

There is prolonged increase in heart rate and blood pressure which may secondarily cause irreversible change in the size of the heart, abnormal rhythms of the heart, spasm of coronary arteries leading reduced blood supply to the heart muscles leading to myocardial ischemia manifesting as chest pain, epigastric discomfort. Sometimes such a condition can lead to myocardial infarction. Abnormal rhythms of the heart can dislodge blood clots to the brain causing stroke. Studies have also shown that stress hormones for a long time can increase the blood sugar, blood cholesterol, triglycerides which are common risk factors for heart diseases. Stress can promote the buildup of plaque deposits in the arteries.

Emotional stress can also lead to irregular or unhealthy sleep habits. Inadequate sleep even for a few days can decrease the ability to focus on work and thus decrease the productivity at work, this in turn increasing the emotional stress. Lack of proper sleep can also lead to increased blood pressure which may become persistent and is an independent risk factor for heart diseases.

It is often seen that prolonged emotional stress may lead to decreased social interactions leading to decreased physical activity, which may give rise to obesity. Irregular weight gain may increase risk for heart diseases. Obesity may also cause breathing issues in sleep, called obstructive sleep apnea which if untreated can cause increased blood pressure that may adversely affect cardiac health.

Emotional stress can lead to maladaptive behavior like unhealthy eating habits consisting mainly of sweets and other carbohydrates and less of fruits, vegetables. Such an unhealthy diet is detrimental to the heart. Research has shown that one might try taking different substances like alcohol, smoking and other addictive substances to get rid of the psychological stress. Such substances are by themselves extremely harmful to the heart and are a major factor for cardiac morbidity and mortality even in the young.

Recent research has shown a connection between cardiovascular activity and increased inflammation. Going through stressful and traumatic events in childhood was found to have higher levels of inflammation markers and also increase in certain risk factors for heart disease later in life. Besides the common coronary artery diseases stress can cause rapid and severe heart muscle weakness known as stress cardiomyopathy. It can be following a variety of emotional stressors like grief, fear, and extreme anger.

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