The emotional toll of a heart attack can be so severe that an estimated 1 in 8 patients who survive the experience develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), new research, has found.


While it has long been known that a heart attack affects both physical and mental health, most doctors and patients are not aware that the emotional stress of a life-threatening heart event can develop into full-blown PTSD, Chron.con reports, citing the study.


The disorder, which more typically affects combat veterans and victims of violent crime, can be particularly insidious in heart patients, who live with constant trepidation about their own bodies, frequently paying anxious attention to each heartbeat or twinge of chest discomfort.


While several small studies have suggested PTSD is an issue for heart patients, most have been too small to reach any meaningful conclusions.


In the new report, researchers from Columbia University Medical Center combined the results of 24 studies that had documented post-traumatic stress in a total of 2,383 heart patients.

Their analysis, published online in the journal "PLoS One", found not only that PTSD after a heart attack was far more common than previously believed but also that the disorder doubled the risk of dying of a second event over the next one to three years, compared with those who did not have PTSD.


Symptoms of the disorder include frequent intrusive thoughts about the stressful event, nightmares and sleep problems and anxiety, among others. An estimated 1.4 million patients are discharged from hospitals in the United States each year after a heart attack or other acute coronary event. The study suggests 168,000 develop PTSD.