Is the psyche and the heart friends or enemies?

  With the progress of human civilization, we have more and more, from material food, clothing, housing and transportation to the spiritual satisfaction of knowledge and vision. More and more people are learning to conceal their emotions, turning the sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty of life into the heart’s joy, anger, sadness and fear, but eventually quietly condensing into the outward waves. But what we don’t see is that even in a single moment, the signals generated by psychological changes can reach the body and affect our heart.  The mind and the heart are inseparable. We have more than once marveled at the wonders of the human body, how each organ can do its job and present a wonderfully diverse world of a person. I don’t know if you have heard that some patients after a heart transplant will have some of the personality traits of the owner of that heart, or even some successful transplant patients will have a mix of memories from the life of the donor. It may seem unbelievable, but with the gradual advancement of research, the close relationship between the psyche and the heart is gradually unveiled and gradually revealed to the public.  Since ancient times, the heart has been more than just an organ; it is inseparable from our psychological and spiritual state. In both Eastern and Western cultures, the heart is often regarded as the residence of the soul. From the language alone, which reflects the perception and understanding of our ancestors, both Chinese and English, emotions are often closely related to the heart, as in “with all my heart”, meaning that our hearts and feelings are related to our hearts. As a matter of fact, this is not just a mere imagination of our ancestors on this beating organ, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, in the Chinese medical classic “Huangdi Neijing” mentioned that “the heart is the great master of the five viscera and six internal organs, and the spirit belongs to it”, that it is the abundance of heart energy and heart blood that ensures the normal mental activities of the human body. In modern medicine, more and more scholars believe that psychology and heart are closely related, and gradually derived the “double heart medicine”, that is, psychological cardiology.  Dr. Gary Schwartz believes that the heart has an independent intelligence, with a “cerebellum” similar to the brain, also known as intracardiac ganglia, which can do a variety of information processing and feedback to the brain. It can even respond before the brain does. In his study, subjects were given different scenarios of external stimuli to focus their attention, and their brain waves and heart activity and response times were monitored while they were given the different scenarios. Mc Craty also believes that the heart has a super-energetic intuition that, while emitting measurable magnetic fields like the brain, it can also perceive information on another level, which is often referred to as the soul.  The above-mentioned intelligence of the heart still needs more research to be explored and confirmed, but there is no denying that a good emotional and mental state is good for the heart. A British study found that watching comedies accelerated the flow of blood to the heart, with effects equivalent to doing a session of aerobic exercise or taking a course of cholesterol-lowering drugs. I wonder if you have similar feelings, in a positive mental state, we seem to have more strength and energy. In addition, many studies have confirmed that music therapy, psychological guidance, etc. can also bring relief to some patients with heart disease symptoms.  The psyche and the heart are enemies influencing each other Intimate partners that may bring firm protection or more deadly damage. Larger-scale heart problems can occur in groups of survivors even years after major events such as earthquakes, floods, and wars, and heart attacks have been shown to occur frequently during stressful events like the World Cup.  In clinical practice, more and more doctors are also finding a proportion of patients who may be seen for symptoms such as chest pain, chest tightness, panic, sweating, shortness of breath, dizziness, etc., but after repeated tests confirm that there is no organic pathology and that the pain is real, but no specific location of the pathology can be found. The patient had to repeatedly check, the checklist became thicker and thicker, and the treatment related to heart disease was carried out but the symptoms may still not improve. So what is wrong? At this point we can give the patient some simple assessment of anxiety or depression. A survey found that more than 60% of patients who repeatedly complained of palpitations had some degree of anxiety manifested, and there was a high incidence of nocturnal paroxysmal dyspnea and anxiety with significant somatization symptoms, which may be caused by stressful life or too much thinking, and also have some relationship with the individual’s physical condition. After some anti-anxiety and depression treatment and improvement of myocardial ischemia, the symptoms will be improved to some extent, and some of them will be cured with significant effect.  With the transformation of the “biopsychosocial” medical model, people have gradually realized that the treatment measures such as drugs alone are not completely effective in preventing and treating coronary heart disease, and the impact of psychosocial problems on the heart cannot be ignored. The prognosis of heart disease patients with combined psychological problems is also poorer than those without psychological problems. The mechanism may be related to the fact that increased mental stress can cause arrhythmia, increase platelet aggregation, and promote the development of atherosclerosis. At the same time, excessive mental stress can contribute to the occurrence of adverse medical behaviors, such as smoking, alcohol abuse, irregular diet, poor compliance, and lack of physical exercise. In January 2014, the Chinese Journal of Cardiovascular Diseases published “Psychological Prescriptions for Patients Attending Cardiovascular Units – A Chinese Expert Consensus”, which was co-authored by relevant experts in cardiovascular medicine and psychiatry in China, to promote cardiovascular and psychosomatic In February of the same year, the American Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine and Psychiatry published the “Psychological Prescriptions for Patients in Cardiovascular Medicine – A Chinese Expert Consensus” to promote cardiovascular and psychiatric rehabilitation. In February of the same year, the American Journal of Circulation published a scientific statement by a panel of experts from the American Heart Association that officially included depression as a risk factor for heart disease along with obesity, diabetes, hypertension and smoking. This indicates that the important impact of psychology on the heart has been widely recognized both domestically and internationally.  Friend or foe, self-regulation is the key Psychology and the heart are closely related, a good psychological state has a certain maintenance and promotion effect on the function of the heart, on the contrary, a bad psychological state may have a negative impact on the heart, and even endanger life. With the growth of the society and economy, the fast pace of life and the huge competitive pressure flooding the population, everyone has different physical and emotional sensitivity. One might say that we all know that bad emotions can affect our bodies, but we are out of our depth. In fact, we can control a lot more, too busy people can be as busy as possible, do one or two things they like every day, as much as possible to increase their communication with others, and use the power of self-reference. For some patients who do not have much contact with outside affairs due to many family matters, we suggest to go out as much as possible. People who have goals and dreams will gain more happiness and satisfaction. And for some patients who already suffer from double heart (psychological heart) disease, we suggest not to be overly resistant to the psychological aspects and medication, many people around us have different degrees of psychological problems, and small doses of short time taking anti-anxiety depression drugs rarely occur in the majority of patients worried about drug dependence and other conditions. Of course, in addition to medication, the importance of one’s own emotional control and the support of friends and relatives in the surrounding area is more important to the treatment of bipolar disorder, and we hope that patients with bipolar disorder can smile again and recover their health.