Worrying about your heart increases risk for mental health disorders

For coffee drinkers, in a common scenario, drinking an extra cup can eventually result in a racing heart, subtly reminding you to reduce caffeine. However, for those with different thought patterns, including heart-focused anxiety, a racing heart may end up with a heart attack and the fear of traveling to an emergency room.

Young Latino adults who experience heart-focused anxiety Mental health disorders..

“we have Empirical evidence Individual differences in heart-focused anxiety are associated with more severe concomitant anxiety and depressive symptoms among particularly at-risk segments of the Latino population, “said Michael Tubolensky, Hugh. Roy, Lily Kranz Karen, a prominent university professor of psychology, reports. University of Houston, Journal of racial and ethnic health inequalities.. The population segment referred to by Zvolensky is a young Latino adult who was previously traumatized in the United States. Their trauma can include intergenerational stress associated with racism.

This is the second study of heart-related anxiety in the Latin community, both conducted by Zvolensky.

“Our first study evaluated middle-aged adults who were probably more worried about them. health.. But this study is unique.Because even among groups who are generally too young to experience mounting Health concerns, A similar pattern can be seen. This probably indicates that it is related to the entire Latino population, “said Zvolensky.

Previous studies have shown that Latinos can embody mental health problems. In other words, it is not considered a mental health problem, Physical symptoms And report them that way. As an example, anxiety may be reported as a headache or breathing problem.

“This population also suffers from many chronic physical health comorbidities, including heart disease and obesity, so this study is suitable for those who tend to blame. Mental health issues About physical illnesses that increase the risk of mental health. ” Zbolensky, director of the University of Houston Institute for Anxiety and Health / Substance Use Disorders Clinic, said.

To make matters worse, treatments for mental health conditions in Latinos are often limited or absent.

“Latin people are underutilized Mental health service Compared to non-Latin whites, they are more likely to use primary care to provide mental health services, which are often inadequate to successfully address mental health problems. ” A person who was exposed to trauma.

“The results showed that heart-focused anxiety was a statistically significant predictor of general depression and overall anxiety,” Zvolensky said.

Clinically, the results of the study may ultimately lead to the development of specialized intervention strategies.

“We can screen for heart-focused anxiety, which is much more efficient and accurate than screening the full range of mental health problems,” Zvolensky said. “If you reduce the anxiety of focusing on the heart, you provide a great service to that person, because you are likely to reduce the risk of the person’s entire range. Mental health issues.. And it is called precision medicine. ”