This month of February is American Heart Month. That’s why I felt it’s important to take this time this week to examine how anxiety is affecting your heart health. We all as women get anxious sometimes. But it’s important to understand that if we’re not careful in managing it, it could have a detrimental effect on our physical health. Let’s examine how severe anxiety can cause heart attacks, stroke, and serious heart palpitations.
What Does Anxiety Feel Like in Women?
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders affecting many Americans. These mental conditions affect your everyday life and your ability to function. When you’re overly anxious, it’s hard for you to control your emotions. You’re not able to think straight or complete any important work assignments on time.
While millions of Americans are suffering from anxiety disorders such as panic attacks, women seem to account for more cases of this than men. Statistics show that women are more than twice as likely as men to develop an anxiety disorder. Women who are either pregnant or breastfeeding are more than likely to develop this condition.
Can Anxiety Cause Heart Attack or Stroke?
If we’re not careful, anxiety can be detrimental to something other than our mental health. It could impact our physical health as well. The most important part of your body you don’t want it to impact is your heart. There is plenty of research that shows anxiety is strongly associated with various heart disorders including rapid heart rate. It can interfere with the normal functioning of your heart and raise your cardiac arrest risk. If you already have pre-existing cardiac disease, the symptoms of anxiety can be especially damaging. While the association between anxiety and heart disease hasn’t been fully studied by experts, there is still plenty of proof that shows the connection between them is strong.
Besides heart disorders, anxiety is also associated with stroke risk. Research published in the American Heart Association journal Stroke in December 2013 showed that the more anxious you are, the greater your stroke risk. One study showed that people with the highest third of anxiety symptoms reportedly had a 33 percent higher stroke risk than people with lower levels. The study author even stated that people with high anxiety levels could experience serious stroke risk down the line if they’re not careful.
“Everyone has some anxiety now and then. But when it’s elevated and/or chronic, it may have an effect on your vasculature years down the road,” said Maya Lambiase, Ph.D., study author and cardiovascular behavioral medicine researcher in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pittsburgh.
Can Anxiety Cause Heart Palpitations All Day?
There’s also research that shows anxiety and its connection with heart palpitations. This occurs when your heart starts to race, pound, or even skip a beat. When your heart palpates, it’s normal for it to do this after engaging in rigorous activities such as exercising. However, this can sometimes happen without warning.
One of the causes of heart palpitations is anxiety. When you’re anxious or worried about something, this could lead your heart to beat forcefully. Your body’s autonomic nervous system (ANS) starts to activate the body’s fight-or-flight response. This system regulates several important functions of your body including digestion, heart rate, and breathing.
Reduce your Anxiety to Benefit your Heart Health
However, there are ways to manage this. We all experience anxiety in this stressful world from time to time. But the most important thing is to not allow it to negatively affect your heart health. Some of the following ways to reduce your anxiety to lower your heart attack, stroke, and manage your palpitations include:
- Eating a healthy diet filled with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and protein.
- Exercise frequently including walks around a park.
- Taking deep breaths.
- Focusing your mind. Try visualizing something that calms you down such as an image, sound, or a relaxing phrase.
- Drink a lot of water. Avoid caffeine because it can trigger more anxiety and palpitations.
Whenever you start to become anxious about something, doing some of these tips will likely help you feel better. Lowering your anxiety and stress levels isn’t always easy. But when you do this, you’re strengthening your heart health, which is the most important organ of your life.
Have you ever dealt with anxiety so badly that it ends up affecting your heart health? If so, what you have done to cope with this? Share your experiences in the comments section below. As always, feel free to like or share this post with the next person you know coping with anxiety.
