The Emotional Side of Heart Attacks
Boom! Having a heart attack affects your life in that instantaneous moment and for the months immediately following. But as we all know, health is something we must consistently nurture. Yesterday, Dr. Richard Petty discussed a recent study that showed how people approach life after a heart attack - some experience hope and renewal while others can barely face the future.
One of the reasons that I’m so militant about aggressive rehabilitation and involving the family is this. As a very young freshly minted doctor, I was involved in the care of a man who suffered from a very small heart attack at the unusually early age of 28. He made an uneventful physical recovery, but announced to his family that he would never work again, and that sexual intimacy or any other kind of physical activity was now out of the question for him. Overnight, he had become a needless cardiac cripple. As he left the hospital he refused to get dressed in regular clothes, but instead wore pajamas and a bathrobe. He shuffled along like an old man despite the fact that his exercise tolerance was probably as good as mine. He refused all offers of help, would not go to rehabilitation and refused to see a psychologist or counselor. Despite the fact that his heart had recovered completely, he died within a year.
Good health is made-up of the physical and the emotional. If we don’t take care of both, life isn’t worth living.
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HT: Olivia
Tags: heart attack, heart, heart disease, diseases, illness, health, medicine
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POSTED IN: Heart-to-Heart, People With Heart Disease
2 opinions for The Emotional Side of Heart Attacks
Sara
Mar 12, 2007 at 3:06 am
That last comment really hit home, Hsien. Thanks! I am sending your blog url to my mom, who just found out she has beginning stages of heart disease. Keep up the good work :)
Hsien-Hsien Lei, PhD
Mar 12, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Sara: Thanks, Sara. I hope your mom is doing well. Lots of hugs and love go a long way. :)
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