Stress Proof the Heart

Ellen A. Dornelas Editor

Stress Proof the Heart

Behavioral Interventions for Cardiac Patients

That cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in America is widely known. Gaining in understanding is the role of the type D personality-characterized by chronic anxiety, depression, and negative emotions-as a risk factor in recurring cardiac problems and early death. Yet while behavior-based treatment references are available to clinicians in other specialties, few exist for cardiologists.

Stress Proof the Heart presents a general picture of behavioral cardiology while focusing in depth on critical specifics. Leading experts in the field explore the psychological aspects of living with arrhythmia, intracardiac device, heart failure, and heart transplant, relating them to psychological characteristics such as pessimism and the feeling of overcommitment. Mainstream treatments, such as stress management and smoking cessation, and emerging interventions, such as computer-based therapies and personality-based techniques, are discussed at length for a well-rounded look at what works and what is promising. Among the topics covered:

. Psychological challenges of living with coronary artery disease.

. Psychological treatment of patients with heart failure.

. Interventions in the context of the type D personality.

. Managing sleep problems in cardiac patients.

. Exercise as medicine for cardiac patients.

. Integrative treatment models for behavioral cardiology.

Filling a growing need in the literature, Stress Proof the Heart is a unique source of practical ideas and clinical examples for health and clinical psychologists, nurses, and allied professionals providing behavioral care to cardiac patients.

Auteur

Ellen Dornelas, Ph.D. is associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine at Farmington and director of behavioral health programs at the Henry Low Heart Center, Hartford Hospital. She received her Ph.D. from Yeshiva University in 1993. For the past 15 years, she has worked as a hospital-based psychologist, treating cardiac patients in medical inpatient, outpatient psychotherapy, and cardiac rehabilitation settings. She was trained as a clinical health psychologist and has a strong background in research in adapting psychotherapeutic approaches to meet the needs of medical patients. She edited a special issue of In Session: The Journal of Clinical Psychology called Integrating Health Psychology into Clinical Practice. In addition, for several years she was the media spokesperson for Connecticut's anti-tobacco coalition.

Texte du rabat

Ellen A. Dornelas Editor

Stress Proof the Heart

Behavioral Interventions for Cardiac Patients

That cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in America is widely known. Gaining in understanding is the role of the type D personalitycharacterized by chronic anxiety, depression, and negative emotionsas a risk factor in recurring cardiac problems and early death. Yet while behavior-based treatment references are available to clinicians in other specialties, few exist for cardiologists.

Stress Proof the Heart presents a general picture of behavioral cardiology while focusing in depth on critical specifics. Leading experts in the field explore the psychological aspects of living with arrhythmia, intracardiac device, heart failure, and heart transplant, relating them to psychological characteristics such as pessimism and the feeling of overcommitment. Mainstream treatments, such as stress management and smoking cessation, and emerging interventions, such as computer-based therapies and personality-based techniques, are discussed at length for a well-rounded look at what works and what is promising. Among the topics covered:

• Psychological challenges of living with coronary artery disease.

• Psychological treatment of patients with heart failure.

• Interventions in the context of the type D personality.

• Managing sleep problems in cardiac patients.

• Exercise as medicine for cardiac patients.

• Integrative treatment models for behavioral cardiology.

Filling a growing need in the literature, Stress Proof the Heart is a unique source of practical ideas and clinical examples for health and clinical psychologists, nurses, and allied professionals providing behavioral care to cardiac patients.

Résumé
Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death throughout the world. Chronic negative emotions such as depression and anxiety place cardiac patients at greater risk for death and recurrence of cardiovascular disease. In 2008 the editor published a book related to this topic, titled Psychotherapy with Cardiac Patients: Behavioral Cardiology in Practice (American Psychological Association). Aside from that book, there are very few resources specifically written for clinicians who treat psychologically distressed cardiac patients. Unlike other medical specialty areas such as oncology, the field of cardiology has been slow to integrate behavioral treatments into the delivery of service. Perhaps because the field has been largely defined and dominated by researchers, mental health clinicians are only starting to recognize behavioral cardiology as a viable arena in which to practice. There is a large void in the practitioner literature on behavioral cardiology. In a review of Psychotherapy with Cardiac Patients, Paul Efthim, Ph.D. wrote, "Her new book goes well beyond previous works by giving specific and detailed guidance about how to tailor psychological interventions with this variegated population." He added, "It would benefit from even more details about treatment approaches." This proposed volume goes beyond the editor's previous volume by providing in-depth descriptions of behavioral treatments for distressed cardiac patients written by eminent leaders in behavioral cardiology. This book describes a wide range of behavioral treatments for the common psychologically based problems encountered by clinicians who treat cardiac patients. The book is organized as follows: Part I focuses on the most psychologically challenging and common presentations of cardiac diagnosis; coronary artery disease, arrhythmia, and heart failure. This section also includes a chapter on heart transplantation, which is a treatment, not a diagnosis, but a treatment that incurs profound psychological impact for the individual. In Part II, behavioral interventions for the general cardiac population are described. Mainstream therapies such as stress management, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and medical family therapy are described, along with approaches that have less empirical support but considerable practical significance such as personality-guided therapy and interventions aimed at altering type D personality traits. The literature in behavioral cardiology has a rich history of investigating maladaptive personality traits and thus it is important to include behavioral approaches that target personality in this volume. Part III focuses on common behavioral problems encountered by clinicians who work with this patient population. Most patients who seek psychological help do so because they perceive themselves to be stressed due to their job or overextended in all areas of their life. Other people with heart disease present with sleep problems and/or an inability to motivate themselves to exercise or quit smoking. There are many practical behavioral approaches that can be helpful for patients with these difficulties and these are detailed in this section of the book. The conclusion of the book focuses on how to integrate the behavioral treatments described in the preceding chapters into a comprehensive treatment model.

Contenu
Part I. Psychological Challenges of Heart Disease.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Psychological Challenges of Coping w…