Cardiophobia (fear Of Heart Attacks): Symptoms, Causes And Treatment
If we say that someone is afraid of heart attacks, the truth is that most people will understand, and even share, said fear. Not in vain, heart problems are one of the most frequent causes of death.
However, as a general rule, it is a fear that we have if we find ourselves faced with a situation in which unusual and decontextualized discomfort or symptoms appear: as a general rule, we live our daily lives normally and without it generating an interruption of our daily life.
But there are people for whom the fear of suffering a heart problem such as a heart attack (among other ailments) generates such a level of anxiety that they need to avoid any action that generates activation, to the point that they can see their lives severely limited. because of the fear. These are people with cardiophobia a psychological alteration that we are going to talk about below.
We give the name cardiophobia to the phobia or panic of suffering some type of cardiac alteration, the most common fear being that of suffering a heart attack
Although this fear is something that may be perfectly understandable to us, the truth is that we are not dealing with mere fear or concern in the face of confusing evidence: we are talking about a highly limiting phobia that generates great discomfort.
As a phobia, cardiophobia implies the existence of a reaction of fear, dread and extreme anxiety when faced with the appearance of a specific stimulus or situation. this reaction being irrational (and the people who suffer from it usually consider it as such) or disproportionate in relation to the danger posed by what causes it.
Symptoms
The symptoms of cardiophobia are those of any similar phobia; anxiety when faced with this stimulus usually generates an intense activation of our body causing physiological symptoms that can lead to the appearance of anxiety attacks.
Among these symptoms we find the dizziness, tachycardia, hyperventilation, sweating, fainting, tremors or even the appearance of sensations that make one think of the idea of losing control of one’s body, of losing one’s mind or even of dying.
The existence of this fear towards the feared stimulus makes the person make great efforts to avoid those situations in which the stimulus or elements linked to it may appear, something that depending on the stimulus can cause a great limitation in the patient’s life. .
In the case of cardiophobia, as we have said previously, the phobia in question is that of suffering or being suffering from heart disease, which means There will be a tendency to avoid all those situations that make it easier to suffer a cardiac disorder including everything that can make our heart go at a different rhythm than usual.
Cardiophobia is also a type of phobia that may be associated with obsessive symptoms, with frequent checks of one’s own state in order to relieve anxiety. A certain link with hypochondria can also be found, since it is not uncommon for these subjects to express the conviction that they are sick.
Curiously, the phobic reaction itself to the feared stimulus will increase the anxiety felt by people with cardiophobia, given that one of the physiological symptoms of anxiety is tachycardia. This generates great suffering that will increase, making it more likely that the subject will suffer an anxiety crisis.
Impacts on daily life
The condition of cardiophobia can be very disabling, given that anxiety is awakened by a type of stimulation that we can hardly control in our daily lives: the beat of our heart
In this sense, the subject will tend to avoid anything that could cause a variation or alteration in their heart rate: it is common for them to stop doing any type of sport, avoid having sexual relations, or avoid consuming foods or drinks that may be exciting.
In severe cases there may be a tendency to isolate and to abandon leisure activities, or even work, as they may cause stress or anxiety that generates cardiac alteration. Even in some very severe cases there may be a tendency to clinophilia or to remain bedridden and in a recumbent state.
In addition, in many cases the existence of cardiophobia can lead to obsessive behaviors, such as constantly checking the heart rate or blood pressure at the slightest effort (and even comparing the current heartbeat with previous states or with that of others).
Likewise, and in a similar way to that of people with hypochondria, “doctor shopping” behaviors may appear, that is, go again and again to various medical centers and doctors in order to evaluate their condition. It is also possible (although less common) for the opposite behavior to take place: to refuse to go to a hospital for fear of having a possible heart disease confirmed.
Causes of this phobia
As with the rest of the phobias, the exact causes of cardiophobia are not known, although it is considered that cardiophobia has a multicausal and multifactorial origin (that is, there is no single cause but rather a series of factors must be added). factors). Now, there are various hypotheses that attempt to explain why this and other phobias can occur.
First of all, it is worth considering that we are facing a discomfort or fear that, although irrational and exaggerated, has a function: that of avoiding harm. In this sense, it could be considered a phobia similar to those of damage, blood and injections. However, unlike the fear of spiders or heights, the fear of heart disease has a strong cognitive component, so although its origin may come from a partly inherited will to survive, it is generally considered that behind of cardiophobia exists a sociocultural learning process
One of the possible explanations is found in learning or experiencing that a loved one or someone you know has suffered a traumatic heart attack or cardiac event that has caused death or great suffering. Regardless of whether it occurs in childhood or adulthood, knowledge of the symptoms or suffering or death of said person can be associated with the altered heart rhythm, something that will cause the person to end up learning and considering that rhythms different from the usual one imply dangerous and even fatal heart disease
Another possible factor with great influence can be found in the learning of schemes and attitudes regarding health from parental models or the social environment, even without having had direct experience. In fact, the knowledge that heart disease is one of the most common causes of death is a fact that can trigger anxiety and fear of suffering from it (something that is accentuated if there are also previous aversive experiences).
Given the aforementioned conditioning and learning, we can generate a cognitive scheme in which the tachycardia-cardiac problem relationship is kept present in a maximized way. In those situations in which an alteration in the heart rate appears, for example when playing sports, this scheme is activated in our psyche and a false alarm is set in motion that causes us anxiety in order to lead us to the avoidance response.
In this case we must also take into account the Reiss expectation model, according to which the phobia is maintained because the fact of exposing oneself to the feared situation causes the subject’s expectation of anxiety and danger from their own symptoms to overcome or confirm their fear. In this case, the anxiety that the subject experiences generates an increase in symptoms such as tachycardia, which would cause the phobia to remain active.
Although cardiophobia is a complex phobia, like other phobias, it can be treated in consultation. In this sense, once real coronary pathology has been ruled out, it is possible to use techniques such as exposure therapy.
The exposure technique It is a basic but very useful technique in the treatment of phobias, which is based mainly on making the subject face the feared situation and the anxiety it generates until it ends up being reduced by habituation. In the case at hand, it would be a type of interoceptive exposure, that is, exposing the subject to specific sensations.
In the case of cardiophobia, in which the anxious response can be a reason for the subject to see his fears confirmed, it is necessary to have great caution when carrying it out: If it is not done correctly, it is possible to make the patient even more sensitive.
It is necessary to jointly develop a gradation of stimuli that the subject will face little by little, continuously until the anxiety greatly decreases. In this sense Activities that the subject carries out will be introduced and that they generate cardiac activation, in order to verify that even if the heart rate increases, it does not lead to a dangerous coronary event.
If there are obsessive checking behaviors, it may also be necessary to carry out exposure with response prevention, that is, making the subject unable to check their heart rate or blood pressure and having to wait to get used to the anxiety.
It may also be necessary to work on a cognitive level, probably even before behaviorally, since beliefs about health, thoughts about what is happening, the meaning given to the cardiac event, work with possible traumatic experiences or dysfunctional schemas and the expectations of danger and risk that you may be having. Stress management can also be something to try.
It may also be relevant the use of relaxation techniques If necessary, it may be appropriate to use drugs such as benzodiazepines to reduce the level of anxiety and allow more cognitive and behavioral work.
