How Do Heightened Emotions Affect Heart Health

We often use the expression “It broke my heart” to show exaggerated emotion. However, the expression is not always an exaggeration; it can sometimes have quite a literal meaning as well. Strong emotions that we feel have a direct effect on our heart. 

Diseases we think are limited to our minds like depression, stress, anxiety, and more have a direct effect on our heart as well. Whenever we are about to do something out of the ordinary, or hear some unusual news, along with heightened emotions like anger, hurt, sadness, excitement, we also feel our heartbeat increase. 

What Happens To Your Heart When You Feel Negative Emotions

Negative emotions like shock, anger, sadness, and more create irregular heartbeats. When you hear shocking news, the chances of a heart attack increase immensely. This is why many people experience heart attacks soon after the death of a loved one. 

Strong emotions like these also increase blood pressure. These immense feelings cause the heart to strain and pump blood. All of this added pressure on the heart increases the chances of affecting its working and hence undergo attacks, strokes, etc.

Depression, Stress And The Heart

Two of the major causes of heart disease that are often undermined are stress and depression. Causes of depression-like social isolation, loneliness, and more increase the chances of heart attacks.

Common emotions like anger, anxiousness, frustration, tension, and more release stress hormones. Stress hormones cause the heart to beat faster and also narrow the blood vessels to aid in pumping the blood. Under usual circumstances, when the emotions subside, the heart returns to its normal ways of working. However, when the stress goes on for a longer period of time, the heart does not get enough time to heal, causing permanent damage. 

While experiencing heightened emotions is inevitable, what we can do is learn how to manage our health under such circumstances. 

Managing Emotions And Heart Health

There are many healthy ways of dealing with heightened emotions. They are:

• Exercise: Exercise in the form of sports, running, boxing, or even dancing are great ways to deal with stress, depression and more. They keep your heart health in check.
• Meditation: Yoga and meditation help us have better control of our emotions. They allow us to be calmer under tense situations and help us in solving problems without being overwhelmed with emotions.
• Therapy: When you come across difficult times in your life, it is important to have a therapist guide you through the process. Opening up to a therapist and learning ways to deal with the issue can massively help.
• Activities that distract you: Distraction doesn’t necessarily mean running away from a problem you should face. You can indulge in distracting activities to give yourself more time to calm down and prepare to solve the problem thrown at you. Talking to friends, painting, taking a walk, and other activities that usually help you feel good and peaceful should be practised often.

Living in a stressful and busy city like Bangalore is bound to take a toll on your mental and heart health. If factors like work, relationships, and more are keeping you stressed, it is important to not avoid it. Make sure that you talk to a professional about it and even consult a cardiology specialist hospital in Bangalore like the Specialist Hospital. Our hospital has the best cardiologists in Bangalore offering you top-notch care for all heart problems. Prevent any major heart diseases by keeping your emotional, mental and cardiac health in check at all times.