Rumination as a key to understanding anxiety and depression in cardiac patients

Abstract

It is now commonly understood that cardiac health professionals need to attend not only to patients' physical rehabilitation, but also to their emotional and mental health recovery. To ensure that mental health support is directed to those patients most at risk of poor psychological recovery post cardiac event, researchers and clinicians are continually seeking to understand the mechanisms underlying the association between anxiety, depression and heart health. One characteristic that differentiates patients with elevated risk of persistent post-event anxiety and depression is their style of cognitive processing, particularly whether they engage in negative ruminative thinking. In this article, the authors outline the impact of ruminative cognitive styles on anxiety and depression in cardiac event survivors, and highlight the importance of identifying ruminators early on in their recovery in order to appropriately direct and tailor mental health support for those who need it most.