According to a new 10-year study released this week in the European Heart Journal, an individual’s general state of mind and overall mental health is directly proportional to their likelihood of developing heart disease.
The United States based studied followed the lives of some 1700 individuals over a course of ten years and kept careful records of the participant’s emotional assessments over the years, as well as key health indicators. One of the most surprising discoveries of the study was the fact that nearly all of the 145 individuals who developed heart disease during this time had also reported long periods of feeling stress, hostility or depression.
Lead researcher of the study Dr Karina Davidson cautions the public not to jump to any conclusions about the role of an individual’s psychological well being in their heart health. Instead, Dr Davidson believes that it is much more likely that individuals who reported being happy and generally content with their lives were probably living healthier lifestyles that led to a lower likelihood of developing heart disease than their stressed out peers. However, the study does suggest that a person’s emotional well being may serve as an indicator of their likelihood of developing health problems in the near future.
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