The document discusses cardiovascular disease and how emotions can impact heart health. It provides the following key points: 1) Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death globally, with over 17 million deaths in 2016 representing 31% of all global deaths. The majority of these deaths are from heart attacks and strokes. 2) Emotions like stress, anger, anxiety, and depression can negatively impact heart health by increasing risk of heart attacks. Studies show links between emotional states and cardiac events. 3) Positive emotions and stress management techniques can benefit heart health by reducing risk factors and supporting recovery from heart disease. Cardiac psychology focuses on prevention and rehabilitation through addressing emotional barriers.

1. Heal Your Heart, Heal Your Life
A Perspective on Cardiac Psychology
by
Ms. Natasha Fernandes
(Clinical Psychologist, Psychotherapist, Emotion Coach)

2. Let’s have a Heart to Heart
(conversation) about Heart Disease

3. WHO FACTS ON
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE (CVD)
• CVDs are the number 1 cause of death globally: more
people die annually from CVDs than from any other
cause.
• An estimated 17.9 million people died from CVDs in 2016,
representing 31% of all global deaths.
• Of these deaths, 85% are due to heart attack and stroke.
• Over three quarters of CVD deaths take place in low- and
middle-income countries.
• On average, someone dies of CVD every 38 seconds.

4. People with cardiovascular disease or who are at high
cardiovascular risk (due to the presence of one or more risk
factors such as hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidaemia or
already established disease) need early detection and
management using counselling and medicines, as
appropriate.

5. The most dangerous form of Heart Disease is
STRONG MEMORIES

6. Emotions are regulated by the brain

7. The Limbic System and Emotions
• The limbic system is located in the center of the brain, and it acts as the brain’s
emotional control center.
• The limbic system is made up of many parts including the hippocampus,
amygdala, thalamus, hypothalamus, basal ganglia, and cingulate gyrus.
• The hippocampus is a seahorse-shaped structure involved in learning, memory,
and emotion.
• The amygdala plays a central role in emotional learning, particularly fearful
memories.

8. Anatomy of Human Heart

9. Heart – Brain Communication
The heart communicates with the brain and body in four
ways:
• Neurological communication (nervous system)
• Biochemical communication (hormones)
• Biophysical communication (pulse wave)
• Energetic communication (electromagnetic fields)

11. Heart & Neurotransmitters
• Heart as a Hormonal Gland in 1983
• Heart has 40,000 sensory neurons that process information
• ANF (Atrial natriuretic factor) & ANP (Atrial natriuretic peptide) – Balance
Hormones produced by the Heart.
• Norepinephrine, epinephrine triggers Stress Hormone
Cortisol.
• Acetylcholine & Oxytocin

12. STRESS??? HOW?? WHY??

13. A growing body of compelling scientific evidence is
demonstrating a link between mental and emotional
attitudes, physiological health and long-term
well-being.

14. What Chronic Stress does to
your Heart??

15. • 60% to 80% of primary care doctor visits are related to stress, yet
only 3% of patients receive stress management help.
• A Harvard Medical School Study of 1,623 heart attack
survivors found that when subjects became angry during
emotional conflicts, their risk of subsequent heart attacks
was more than double that of those who remained calm.
• Over one-half of heart disease cases are not explained by
the standard risk factors such as high cholesterol, smoking
or sedentary lifestyle.
• According to a Mayo Clinic study of individuals with heart
disease, psychological stress was the strongest predictor of
future cardiac events such as cardiac death, cardiac arrest
and heart attacks.
• A 20-year study of over 1,700 older men conducted by the
Harvard School of Public Health found that worry about
social conditions, health and personal finances all
significantly increased the risk of coronary heart disease.

16. • Men who complain of high anxiety are up to six times more
likely than calmer men to suffer sudden cardiac death.
• A study of elderly nuns found that those who expressed the
most positive emotions in early adulthood lived an average of
10 years longer.
• Separate studies showed that the risk of developing heart
disease is significantly increased for people who impulsively
vent their anger as well as for those who tend to repress angry
feelings.

17. CARDIAC PSYCHOLOGY
Cardiac psychology is a specialization of health psychology that
focuses on the primary and secondary prevention of heart disease by
incorporating strategies to address
the emotional and behavioral barriers to lifestyle changes
(e.g. smoking cessation), and that seeks to enhance recovery in
cardiac patients by means of providing patients tools (e.g. stress
management and psychotherapy) to cope with life and physical
changes associated with their disease.
Cardiac psychologists can help cardiac patients across the lifespan:
prevention, pre-surgery, post-surgery, and rehabilitation of cardiac
disease with a particular emphasis on achieving optimal quality of
life outcomes. Cardiac psychology includes
both research and clinical practice aspects.

18. Who is more prone to Heart Disease?

19. Personality : Type A

20. Personality : Type D

21. What role does emotion & perception
play in CVD?
• Imprinting from “ Womb Stage”
• Thinking & Perception
• Communication patterns
• Identity / Individuality
• Depression
• Anxiety

23. How to move towards Positive Heart
Health?

25. Quick Coherence Technique
• Step 1: Heart Focus. Focus your attention on the area around your
heart, the area in the center of your chest. place your hand over the
center of your chest to help keep your attention in the heart area.
• Step 2: Heart Breathing. Breathe deeply but normally and feel as if your
breath is coming in and going out through your heart area. As you inhale,
feel as if your breath is flowing in through the heart, and as you exhale,
feel it leaving through this area. Breathe slowly and casually, a little
deeper than normal. Continue breathing with ease until you find a natural
inner rhythm that feels good to you.
• Step 3: Heart Feeling. As you maintain your heart focus and heart
breathing, activate a positive feeling. Recall a positive feeling, a time
when you felt good inside, and try to re-experience the feeling. It may be
a memory of your family or your children when they were young. One of
the easiest ways to generate a positive, heart-based feeling is to
remember a special place you’ve been or the love you feel for a close
friend or family member or treasured pet. This is the most important step.

26. Freeze Frame Decision Making Technique
• When there is an issue causing you stress, write down what
you've been thinking and feeling about it.
• Shift into heart coherence using the Quick Coherence
Technique.
• In that state, ask yourself what would be a more effective
response to this situation, one that will minimize future stress.
• Listen for what your heart has to say. Notice the first feelings
and sensations that come to you. Perhaps it's offering a new
insight you need, or is saying let go or be patient?
• Write down what your heart says, even if it seems too
simplistic.
• Now compare what you wrote in #1 with what your heart said.
Which feels better to you? Which has more ease, flow or
common sense?

27. Tips for a Healthy Heart
• Be Happy & have a positive outlook
• Keep stress under control OR Seek Help
• Practice Mindfulness (Meditations / Walks / Yoga)
• Inculcate Hobbies or Recreational Activities
• Look after your mental health
• Be smoke-free & Alcohol free
• Healthy Eating Habits
• Restful Sleep / Rest Enough & Rest Well
• Keep a check on your Lipids / Blood Pressure / Blood Sugar
• Social Support is important.

29. THANKYOU