Stress, Depression and Heart Disease

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Stress, Depression and Heart Disease
Lifestyles, Fitness and Rehabilitation
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Stress, Depression and Heart Disease
Lifestyles, Fitness and Rehabilitation

• Can managing stress reduce or prevent heart
  disease?
• Stress can refer to physical or emotional tension
• All people feel stress
• Studies suggest a relationship
• between cardiovascular disease
• and stress

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Stress, Depression and Heart Disease
Lifestyles, Fitness and Rehabilitation

• Acute and Chronic stress may affect
• High blood pressure
• Cholesterol levels
• Smoking
• Physical inactivity
• Overeating

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Stress, Depression and Heart Disease
Lifestyles, Fitness and Rehabilitation

• Managing Stress
• Talk with family, friends,
• clergy or other trusted
• advisors about your
• concerns and stresses,
• and ask for their support
• Take 15 minutes a day to
• sit quietly, breathe deeply
• and think about a peaceful
• scene

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Stress, Depression and Heart Disease
Lifestyles, Fitness and Rehabilitation

• Managing Stress
• Learn to accept things you cant change. You
  dont have to solve all of lifes problems
• Count to 10 before answering or responding when
  you feel angry
• Dont use smoking, drinking, overeating, drugs or
  caffeine to cope with stress. They make things
  worse

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Stress, Depression and Heart Disease
Lifestyles, Fitness and Rehabilitation

• Managing Stress
• Look for the good in situations, not the bad
• Exercise regularly. Do something you enjoy. Check
  with your doctor to determine your activity level
• Try to avoid things that may upset you. Cut back
  on your hours, or adjust your schedule to avoid
  rush-hour traffic

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Stress, Depression and Heart Disease
Lifestyles, Fitness and Rehabilitation

• Managing Stress
• Plan out productive solutions to problems. Set
  clear limits on how much you will do for friends
  or family members
• Learn to say no. Dont promise too much. Give
  yourself enough time to get things done
• Join a support group with which you identify

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Stress, Depression and Heart Disease
Lifestyles, Fitness and Rehabilitation

• Managing Stress
• Seek out a mental health professional or
  counselor if you cant cope on your own. Helping
  people is their specialty. Ask your doctor,
  family, friends or clergy for recommendations.

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Stress, Depression and Heart Disease
Lifestyles, Fitness and Rehabilitation

• Depression
• Very common among individuals recovering from a
  heart attack
• Depression can influence survival
• Depressed patients are 3X more likely to die than
  those who are not
• Strong social support protects patients from the
  negative effects of depression

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Stress, Depression and Heart Disease
Lifestyles, Fitness and Rehabilitation

• Exercise and Mental Health
• Physically active people have better mental
  health
• Higher positive self concept, more self esteem
  and more positive moods
• May be linked to higher levels of alertness and
  mental ability to learn