The cause of obsessive phobia of sudden cardiac arrest and non-existence?

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A specific type of phobia is cardiophobia - fear of cardiac arrest. This phobia is common among young people and children. In the case of strong emotional stress, there is a noticeable increase in the work of the heart. The patient believes that the active work of the heart will lead to a complete stop of the organ.

Cardiophobia - fear of cardiac arrest

What does it represent?

Cardiophobia is one of the most common nosophobias (fear of getting sick and subsequently dying). It occurs both in people with certain cardiovascular diseases and in completely healthy people, full of strength and energy.

Feeling pain or discomfort in the heart area, a person gets scared. Thinking that he has developed physiological disorders due to which he needs urgent hospitalization, otherwise death will occur.

But in fact, rapid heartbeat or even spasms make themselves felt due to the emotional state. Which is completely unstable.

A cardiophobe constantly measures his pulse, avoids shocking news, and listens to the slightest changes in well-being. And he may not even go outside. To avoid accidentally experiencing any intense feelings from meeting and communicating with other people.

According to statistics, this type of disorder occurs more often in middle-aged men. It is precisely during this period that a crisis occurs, which, perhaps disturbing and causing a lot of negative emotions, manifests itself in the form of somatics, that is, quite tangible physiological symptoms.

Cardiophobes turn to doctors for help at the slightest deviation in the functioning of the heart muscle. And they are not at all satisfied with the positive diagnostic results.

If a specialist denies the existence of a mortal danger, then he is a bad specialist. And then you need to go to another, more insightful, qualified person who will immediately recognize the terrible disease.

But such “travels” to cardiologists do not bring success. Except in cases where a person actually has deviations.

What is cardiophobia?

Cardiophobia is a person’s pathological fear of dying from heart disease. This phobia ranks second among all fears associated with diseases, and is second only to cancerophobia (fear of getting cancer). The disorder occurs not only in people with heart pathologies, but also in healthy people against the background of shocks or strong experiences.

Treatment of pathology is carried out by clinical psychologists, and in some cases by psychiatrists. The diagnosis is made based on examination of the patient and assessment of his emotional state. Often other phobias are combined with the fear of cardiac arrest.

Signs

An attack of cardiophobia sometimes lasts several minutes. It was when there was a stabbing sensation in the chest that the fear of cardiac arrest arose, but with relief of well-being, the disturbing thoughts also went away. Or maybe several days, in severe cases – years.

At such a moment, the patient loses critical thinking and becomes receptive, “obedient” and pliable.

He is completely focused on his feelings and is ready to share them without stopping. He listens carefully to doctors' recommendations and agrees with everything. Of course, when they do not deny that he has a dangerous disease.

If the situation gets worse, a person can simply limit his physical activity, stopping getting out of bed, so as not to provoke a heart attack.

And if she gets up, she definitely won’t go out all alone. After all, who will help him then if an attack occurs and he does not have time to take the pill?

In general, as you understand, this phobia completely destroys a person’s social life. He quits to avoid unnecessary stress and breaks off relations for the same purpose.

He even stops doing housework, shifting responsibility for his own life and its well-being to relatives. What is this “disintegration” of a developed personality called, and how to cope with it, you will learn from here.

A panic attack, which usually occurs out of the blue, usually results in fever, sweating, difficulty breathing, and shaking hands.

Thoughts of imminent death flash through my head, my blood pressure rises, my skin turns red. Sometimes nausea, dizziness, vomiting and even diarrhea and loss of consciousness occur.

Psychic manifestation

Cardiophobia provokes the appearance of the following manifestations:

• sleep disorders;
• irritability;
• hysteria;
• an aggressive reaction to the remark that it is not heart disease;
• panic attacks, fear of dying in your sleep;
• nausea, dizziness.

Fear of complete cardiac arrest provokes the appearance of persistent clinical depression and can put a person into a prolonged stupor. Disturbances in the functioning of the central nervous system and the death of neurons provoke the appearance of phobic disorders. The brain does not have time to recover. The cause of cardiophobia can be a mental disorder, schizophrenia, manic state, etc.

Cardiac syndrome

Forms of manifestation

Pseudoreumatic

Patients complain of pain in the chest, joints, shortness of breath, weakness and rapid heartbeat. This form of manifestation of phobia resembles in its symptoms rheumatic heart disease, that is, acquired.

During physical activity, the discomfort intensifies, which causes panic and a desire to quickly see a specialist before it is too late. During the examination, naturally, no pathologies are detected, but this in no way reassures the patient.

Pseudo-infarction

This form is for individuals knowledgeable in medicine, who are most often doctors, nurses and other employees of medical institutions.

A person who does not know what myocardial infarction is, or more precisely, how it manifests itself, is unlikely to diagnose it if he only once has a slight pain in his chest.

Cardiophobes, realizing that every second counts, and that the faster medical care is provided, the greater the patient’s chances of survival, they will call an ambulance with or without it. Or torment your colleagues with constant complaints and requests for advice, examination and ECG.

Symptoms of completely different diseases that can easily be confused with a heart attack can lead to alarming thoughts.

For example, the manifestation of intercostal neuralgia caused a lot of commotion among individuals with this phobic disorder. And all because spasms of nerve endings can really be confused with heart pain.

Only they don’t go away after taking validol, which, in principle, is an excellent diagnostic method.

But cardiophobes simply will not believe that everything is fine with them and they just need to take painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, limit physical activity and ensure that they get bed rest.

No, they will decide that they are in a hopeless situation. And in the near future, if no measures are taken, they will simply leave this world.

Neurotic

Typically, patients’ complaints are vague, in the sense that they do not fit into any diagnosis known to science. The patient himself does not know how to describe the symptom that he has experienced.

Let’s say he claims that it’s hard for him to breathe, that he hurts somewhere, but he doesn’t understand where exactly. I also cannot determine what nature the pain is, that is, it pulls, stabs, presses or cuts, and so on.

Basically, this form of disorder makes itself felt after suffering an emotional shock, for example, due to separation from a loved one, conflict, dismissal.

Flow forms

The clinical picture of cardiophobia is diverse; there are 3 forms of phobia:

• Pseudoreumatic. The symptoms are similar to those of rheumatic heart disease. Chronic tonsillitis may occur. The patient complains of shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, discomfort in the left side of the chest and joints. Symptoms intensify due to physical activity.
• Pseudo-infarction. It manifests itself in those engaged in medical activities or in those who are actively interested in medicine, traditional methods of treatment, etc. Fear of myocardial infarction provokes the occurrence of not very noticeable pain in the heart area; mentally a person directs all attention only to a new attack and subsequent death . He is actively undergoing various examinations and trying to recover. Recurrence of attacks occurs only due to other health problems that should be clarified by a doctor. In this case, medication treatment will not help. The diagnostic results do not show the presence of any pathologies. If there are minor violations, then this turns out to be a tragedy for the patient. He considers his own health condition hopeless and denies treatment.
• Neurotic. There is uncertainty about symptoms and treatment methods. Patients complain of pressure and discomfort in the left side of the chest, loud heartbeat and shortness of breath. Complaints and symptoms are not combined with any heart disease. Sometimes this condition can pass without attacks, but patients continue to limit and control themselves, thinking that they may die. They are afraid to walk down the street unaccompanied.

The main issue in determining the cause of a phobia is establishing a psychosomatic connection. The duration of the attack is from 40 minutes. up to 2 hours. For the patient, the visit of the doctor is more important than taking medication. If he is in a medical facility under the supervision of specialists, then attacks of cardiophobia occur much less frequently, and he does not constantly think about death.

The active formation of a phobia occurs immediately after the first attack occurs. A person experiences fear and anxiety, and the process of waiting for the heart to stop working and death to occur is activated.

Despite the fact that doctors point out to the patient the positive results of the cardiogram, he refuses to accept the information and insists on his own. The haunting fear of cardiac arrest torments both the patient himself and those around him.

The time intervals and frequency of attacks are irregular. Between seizures, the person carefully monitors his heart, carefully monitoring his pulse and recording minimal deviations. Random heartbeats are perceived as clear signs of disease or blood clot rupture, leading to death. He carefully monitors and notes any vegetative non-standard manifestations and minor fluctuations in well-being. Patients use all means to protect themselves from any physical activity or stress, so as not to provoke an attack.

Treatment of cardiophobia

A person is constantly afraid of dying from cardiac arrest, so he tries not to be alone. There are fears that the attack will occur in a dream, and he will not have time to react in a timely manner. For this reason, a persistent disorder may develop in which the patient cannot sleep for a long time. Cardiophobia can be combined with manifestations of other phobias (agoraphobia - fear of open space).

Causes

Hypochondria

This is a mental illness in which a person is firmly convinced that he is terminally ill. He goes to doctors and endlessly complains about health problems. Only when he takes tests and undergoes diagnostics, he does not receive such a frightening but desired diagnosis.

Because in reality he is healthy, physically. But mentally, not particularly, because, inventing all sorts of dangerous diseases for himself, he really believes in their existence. Plus, he also experiences characteristic symptoms.

He simply needs attention, and thus tries to get what was so lacking in childhood.

Parents, for example, could be very busy at work in order to feed themselves and gave affection and love to the child only at moments when he was very ill. As soon as he recovered, they moved away again and went about their important business.

So, cardiophobia often occurs due to the presence of hypochondria in the personality structure.

Personality traits

Impressive natures, having visited a relative in the cardiology department. Or, even worse, after being hospitalized for a completely insignificant reason, they can become so frightened that they find absolutely all the signs of the disease in themselves.

The neighbors in the ward will only “throw” information at them. Because people usually tend to exaggerate their ailments. To evoke the sympathy of the interlocutors, and respect for the tolerance of the injustice of fate.

Psychological trauma

News about the sudden death of a loved one, or even an unfamiliar person, is usually shocking, literally “cutting the ground from under your feet.”

They show how vulnerable we are, powerless in the face of certain phenomena and completely unprotected, no matter how much we would like to believe in the fairness of the world’s structure.

So, if this sudden death happened due to a heart attack. Especially at a young, but not at an old age, this may well cause such a strong emotional reaction that it will shake the stability of the psyche and provoke the development of a phobia.

Stress

This phobia also begins to develop due to prolonged exposure to nervous tension. The personality loses its resources and becomes literally exhausted. Because the entire energy reserve goes towards fighting anxiety.

Therefore, it is not surprising that along with asthenia, chronic diseases begin to appear in her. So to speak, weak points in the body make themselves felt.

Attention is concentrated mainly on your well-being, because it has changed dramatically.

Uncertainty causes anxiety. Let’s say you have a pain in your chest, and it’s not clear, you need to urgently contact the doctors, because what if it’s a heart attack, but no measures have been taken?

Or is the fear out of nowhere and he will simply lose both his time and the specialists who could save someone’s life for this challenge? And if this is not an attack, but only its herald, then is it necessary to take medications to reduce the risk of a heart attack?

Previous illnesses

If a person has a history of heart problems, then, faced with protracted, expensive treatment, he will become fixated on his well-being in the future. Since he definitely won’t want to repeat the situation, and due to some nuances he may not be able to handle it.

The main factors causing cardiophobia

Doctors cite being in a state of excessive mental stress, as well as increased anxiety, as the main reason for the formation of a phobia. More often, the condition develops in people suffering from self-doubt, as well as those with a hysterical disposition. Nervous instability, a sanguine character, and the inability to fully relax are partly predisposing to the disease. The situation is further aggravated by increased suspiciousness and constant overload.

Important! Often fear appears after the sudden death of a relative or friend due to heart disease.

The pathological condition begins to develop after stress, which can be both obvious and hidden. The first symptoms of a phobia appear in a person at the moment when someone from his environment is diagnosed with a serious heart disease. What most strongly provokes cardiophobia is the death of a young acquaintance due to a sudden heart attack, which nothing predicted.

The disorder also develops after undergoing a routine examination due to professional activity or due to pathology not related to the cardiovascular system. Having learned that there is a slight change in the functioning of the heart, a person perceives the doctor’s words that he needs to be more attentive to himself as a sentence and the prospect of a quick and terrible death. In such a situation, there are heart problems, but not to the extent that the patient imagines them.

Doctors include other reasons for the development of cardiophobia:

• a period of persistent internal anxiety;
• a persistent feeling of helplessness;
• lack of feeling that a person controls what is happening in his life;
• a long period of loneliness, which is greatly experienced by a person;
• previous heart disease;
• disorders of the nervous system.

For whatever reason, the disease is a serious problem, which, if left untreated, only gets worse and causes the formation of neuroses, hysteria and depression.

Diagnosis and treatment

Diagnosis is carried out on the basis of the patient’s complaints, in connection with which he is prescribed a number of medical tests. These include cardiac ultrasound and electrocardiography.

In some cases, bicycle ergometry allows you to find out how the heart reacts to stressful situations that are caused by physical activity or special drugs injected into a vein.

Although patients take a lot of medications, for example, validol, nitroglycerin, they do not feel any improvement in their well-being.

Attempts to calm them down and reassure them that everything is fine are useless. If the cardiophobe listens, it will only be for a few minutes, after which he will again indulge in panic about his approaching death.

Therefore, under no circumstances should you self-medicate, as you will simply waste time. And the trust of a loved one with this phobic disorder. You should definitely contact a psychotherapist or psychiatrist in case of related health difficulties.

For example, if insomnia occurs due to worries or you are not in the mood due to anxiety, which you cannot get rid of.

In this case, the psychiatrist will prescribe antidepressants, sedatives, sleeping pills, and so on, depending on the situation.

Sometimes outpatient treatment is required, not in the cardiology department, but in the neurology department.

Forms of cardiophobia

Doctors distinguish 3 forms of the disease. Depending on which of them occurs, one or another manifestation of the disease will predominate. However, the main symptom is always present - a constant unreasonable fear that the heart can stop at any moment.

Pseudoreumatic form

This mental disorder is caused by excessive suspiciousness and develops mainly against the background of prolonged treatment of sore throat or tonsillitis. The patient becomes confident that he has symptoms of rheumatic carditis or rheumatism itself. The patient’s complaints correspond to those that the patients have, but the examination does not reveal pathology.

Pseudo-infarction form

The pathology develops against the background of the shock that a person experienced due to the death of someone from a heart attack. At first, the patient only studies the disease too carefully. Further, as the condition progresses, the person begins to constantly look for symptoms of an approaching dangerous condition and systematically visits doctors for examination.

Neurotic cardiophobia

The disease develops against the background of a strong fear of death due to heart pathologies, when there are minor diseases of the heart muscle or a predisposition to them. Constant nervous overstrain leads to a rapid deterioration in well-being and provokes the development of neurotic heart attacks, despite the absence of a disease that can provoke them. The patient's quality of life is seriously affected.

Recommendations

In order not to think about how to get rid of any kind of phobias, engage in prevention. That is, take care not only of physical health, but also mental health.

First of all, learn to get rid of unnecessary stress and anxiety. Daily stress destroys our lives. But it is quite possible to reduce their negative impact, or even get rid of it altogether.

Practice yoga, meditation. When you feel like you're on edge, use breathing techniques to help you relax and calm down.

Play sports, if prohibited by doctors, then at least do therapeutic exercises. Avoid toxic people and try to listen to your own desires.

There is no better healer than joy and awareness of how interesting and beautiful life is. Believe me, the world outside hospitals is much more interesting, albeit sometimes more dangerous, but it will not leave anyone indifferent.

Travel, communicate with those who inspire you and do what brings you pleasure. Let it be a knitting class or car repair, which is not at all related to the main profession, but is so tempting.

Main symptoms of phobia

Cardiophobia symptoms are quite varied. Symptoms are divided by doctors depending on which form of pathology occurs.

With pseudorheumatic lesions, the symptoms are mainly as follows:

• increased heart rate;
• dyspnea;
• pain in the heart area;
• joint pain.

The pseudoinfarction form is characterized by the following manifestations:

• high intensity pain in the heart area;
• constant thoughts about pain;
• constant expectation of death.

The neurotic form is characterized by a variety of symptoms that cannot be accurately classified. Often the patient’s complaints do not even correspond to the usual manifestations of classical heart disease.

With any type of phobia, an attack may develop, which usually rarely lasts more than 2 minutes. It is accompanied by a panicky fear of death and an acute focus on one’s own feelings.

Reasons for development

There are many reasons for the development of such fear . Cardiophobia is more common:

1. People who are insecure or constantly anxious, often in stressful situations, with a tendency to exaggerate problems, who are unable to adequately assess the situation, distract themselves from problems and relax.
2. People who have relatives or friends who have had heart disease, who have had close contact with someone who is sick, or who have had a loved one die from a heart attack. It is also difficult to bear the news of death due to a sudden rupture of the heart; this happens even in young people when there were no predispositions to cardiac pathologies.
3. The first signs of cardiophobia may appear at the stage of examination by a doctor or some kind of examination. A patient may be examined not even for heart disease, but for some other disease, but when he learns about abnormalities in the cardiovascular system, he may misunderstand the doctor. Then a picture of the illness from a heart attack is formed in the head, and the situation may become more complicated if you do not talk to a doctor in time.

But if a patient begins to develop cardiac phobia and suffers from heart disease, the fear may often not be appropriate to the situation. Their experiences often become much stronger than the experiences of people with the same disease, but not suffering from cardiophobia.

All three options for the development of a phobia have a basis - the patient’s internal experiences, fear of life circumstances and helplessness in this problem. Even a small experience can cause the development of a phobia if you do not talk about it with anyone and do not find out the necessary information. But even at the first stage, the phobia does not bode well ; the patient simply begins to inquire about doctors and find out about treatment.

But after that, cardiophobia, like many other phobias, begins to create its own problems. A person constantly feels a threat to his life and approaching death, even if the doctor says that there are no predispositions for the disease, and tests show the same.

Cardiophobia can go in a vicious circle:

1. The patient feels despair, does not believe medicine and arguments.
2. The patient doubts his illness and goes through the doctors again.
3. The patient calms down (not for everyone), stops monitoring his health and lives normally for some time.

Symptoms of cardiophobia (cardioneurosis)

For the reasons for the appearance of such arrhythmia, the following forms of the disease are distinguished:

• functional;
• organic;
• toxic.

The functional type of such arrhythmia is the least dangerous, since it is not accompanied by organic disorders in the heart. In this case, the main causes of disorders are severe stress, neurosis, and dystonia. Treatment of extrasystolic arrhythmia of this nature most often does not require hospitalization of the patient.

The organic cause is more serious. As a rule, in this case, extrasystolic arrhythmia is a consequence of more serious heart problems. For example, very often it occurs as a complication after myocardial infarction. In this case, it is necessary to eliminate the main cause of the arrhythmia.

A toxic form of the disease can develop as a reaction to certain medications. Or the main cause may be hyperfunction of the thyroid gland. Here, for effective treatment, it is also necessary to eliminate the underlying causes of the disease.

Depending on the ectopic foci of impulse occurrence, extrasystolic arrhythmia is classified into:

• ventricular (up to 65% of all cases);
• atrial (up to 25%);
• atrioventricular (up to 10%).

The atrial form of arrhythmia is considered the least dangerous.

Extrasystolic arrhythmia is usually easily diagnosed. So, during an attack, irregularities in the heart rhythm can be heard even through a regular phonendoscope. But the most accurate picture of the disease can be identified using an ECG. In some cases, the doctor prescribes daily monitoring of electrical impulses of the heart, as well as ultrasound examinations.

An effective method for diagnosing arrhythmia is palpation of the radial artery. During diagnosis in this way, first the doctor feels a kind of wave, and then the pulse “falls out,” which definitely indicates the presence of an arrhythmia.

Treatment is prescribed after identifying the cause that led to irregular heartbeat rhythms. If functional disorders are detected, then it may be enough to eliminate neurosis or stressful circumstances so that the activity of the heart returns to normal. It is also necessary to limit salt intake to a minimum and maintain the correct rest and work schedule. In addition, sanatorium treatment for such patients is recommended.

Treatment with folk remedies for extrasystolic arrhythmia can also be successful, especially if the arrhythmia is not organic in nature. Infusions of cornflower, calendula, valerian, asparagus, lumbago, hawthorn or decoctions of rosehip seeds and hawthorn flowers are perfect here.

For example, you can take a tablespoon of valerian root and add one glass of boiled water, after which you need to leave the tincture for half a day in a sealed container, then strain the solution and drink three times a day. spoon.

Calendula infusion is no less effective. To prepare it, you need to pour 2 tablespoons of the plant with two glasses of boiling water. The medicine is infused for one hour, after which it is filtered. You need to drink half a glass four times a day.

If extrasystolic arrhythmia progresses and poses a threat to the patient’s life, then pharmacological drugs are used to relieve symptoms.

The most effective and frequently used medicine is quinidine sulfate. It has a good effect on atrial and ventricular extrasystoles. Doctors always recommend starting treatment with this drug.

If the effect of using quinidine sulfate is not observed or there is individual intolerance, then procainamide (novocainamide) is used. This drug is considered the second most effective and has a greater effect on ventricular extrasystoles. If this medicine does not give the expected result, then beta blockers (propranolol, alprenolol) are used for treatment.

Certain symptoms indicate cardiophobia; they help to clearly recognize the pathological fear of cardiac arrest. A person suffering from cardiophobia exhibits the following characteristic behavior:

• fears a heart attack;
• is afraid to be alone, argues that if he needs help, there will be no one nearby;
• shifts his responsibilities to other people, considering himself weak and helpless or arguing that he has a heart condition and should not overexert himself;
• avoids stress: most often such people quit their jobs and stop playing sports;
• most often avoids sexual contact, breaks off relationships with the opposite sex due to the fear of dying from a heart attack at the moment of intimacy. Personal relationships fade into the background, the quality of life in general deteriorates;
• begins to become interested in medicine, studies medical literature on this topic in large quantities;
• does not go out alone, does not stay in enclosed spaces, other phobias may appear.

It should be noted that against the background of cardiophobia, phobic disorders such as thanatophobia (fear of death), as well as autophobia – fear of loneliness, often develop. Many cardiophobes are terrified of being alone, tormenting their loved ones and relatives with requests to constantly be nearby, hiring all kinds of nurses or personal assistants.

Physiologically, cardiophobia is manifested by the following pronounced and most common symptoms:

• sleep problems. A person does not sleep because he is afraid that his heart will stop in his sleep;
• often gets irritated by little things, gets excited easily;
• psychologically dependent on taking vitamins that support cardiac activity and other drugs to improve health;
• may feel discomfort and pain in the chest area;
• monitors heart rate and breathing, does not part with a device for measuring blood pressure;
• constantly and unreasonably afraid of death and worried about it;
• when an attack occurs, one feels nausea, sudden dizziness, blood pressure rises, pain appears in the heart area, and breathing quickens.

How to get rid of the fear of cardiac arrest?

When cardiophobia is diagnosed, how to get rid of it is determined specifically for each patient. The treatment regimen is selected depending on the patient’s condition at the time of seeking help. The cause of the disease matters. The doctor studies the picture of the disease and determines its duration. It is chosen which of the two treatment methods will be the main one - medication or psychotherapy.

Medicines are selected individually. Their purpose is to eliminate pathological anxiety. With their help, it will not be possible to completely get rid of fear for the heart, and it is additionally necessary to conduct sessions with a psychotherapist or psychologist. Psychotherapy helps to solve the problem as completely as possible. The method is also chosen individually.

Cardiophobia refers to conditions that seriously reduce the patient’s quality of life. If signs of a disorder are detected, you should seek medical help. The patient himself cannot always understand that his heart is healthy, and in this case, loved ones need to convince him to seek treatment from the right specialist.

Diagnostics

To confirm that a person does not have heart disease, an examination is carried out, which includes an electrocardiogram, ultrasound of the heart and echocardiography. A person must consult not only a cardiologist, but also a rheumatologist. If these specialists do not identify any abnormalities, then a referral is given to visit a psychologist, psychotherapist, and in their absence, a psychiatrist.

After a conversation with the patient, the specialist determines the degree of phobia and the extent to which it has impaired mental health. After this, the optimal treatment for a particular case is prescribed.

For reference! The diagnosis is made only after heart pathologies have been accurately excluded.