抑郁症是如何影响心脏的?

How to stay heart healthy — even when you’re down.

When you’re feeling down, it’s easy to reach for your favorite comfort food or skip a workout. But thinking about your heart health is important, even when you’re not feeling too chipper.

当人们感到压力时, 焦虑或抑郁, 他们可能会感到不知所措, so they’re not apt to make healthy lifestyle choices. They may be more likely to smoke more, not be physically active,

sleep too little or too much, drink too much alcohol and fail to take their prescribed medications. Over time, these unhealthy behaviors can increase the risk for heart disease.

创伤, 抑郁症, anxiety and stress can lead to changes that can affect your health, and not just because you may fall into habits that are bad for your heart. Research shows that mental health also has physiologic effects on the body.

Depression is reported in over 7% of Americans ages 18 and older, and the figure can be as high as 20% for post-heart attack patients.

Can 抑郁症 cause heart disease or heart attack?

当你感到抑郁时, anxiety or stress your heart rate and blood pressure rise, there’s reduced blood flow to the heart and your body produces higher levels of cortisol, 应激激素. Over time, these effects can lead to heart disease. Depression and anxiety can also develop after cardiac events, 包括心力衰竭, 中风和心脏病.

What can I do to help my stress, anxiety or 抑郁症?

If you’re struggling with 抑郁症, stress or anxiety, taking three key steps can help.

1.  Identify the cause of your 抑郁症, stress or anxiety and address it.

必要时寻求治疗.

At times you may feel down for a couple of days, 但如果持续两周或更长线上电子游戏飞禽走兽, 你可能需要寻求帮助. Depression is a problem when it causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed. It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease your ability to function at work and at home.

2.  养成健康的习惯，不要操之过急.

If you aren't in the habit of exercising, start gradually.

Something as simple as taking a walk, 30 minutes a day, even if you do only 每次10分钟，可以帮助你的心脏. 体育活动可以改善你的情绪 当你在做的时候, but  regular physical activity can also improve your mental well-being, lower the risk of 抑郁症 and improve your overall quality of life.

If reaching for unhealthy foods has become a habit, try using 更健康的烹饪技术 or substituting ingredients to cut down on fat, added sugar, sodium and calories. 买些健康的零食, 比如新鲜的水果和蔬菜, or choose undressed salads and other low-fat dishes when eating out. 

3.  Incorporate other healthy lifestyle changes one at a time.

不要试图一次“解决”所有问题. That’s especially true if one of the habits you want to break is smoking.

戒烟 会很困难. 如果你吸烟, talk with your health care professional to determine if you need medications or other help to quit. Therapies may include nicotine replacement or prescription medicines. You could also ask for a referral for a smoking cessation program.

Ultimately, you have to take care of yourself to break the cycle of feeling down. 可以做一些有组织的事情, 比如瑜伽课或太极练习, 或者你可以在任何地方做的事情, 比如冥想, 听音乐或看书.