Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine

2013 Edition
| Editors: Marc D. Gellman, J. Rick Turner

Heart Disease and Emotions: Anger, Anxiety, Depression

Reference work entry
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_1614
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Definition

The negative emotions of anger, anxiety, and depression exist in several different forms – stable individual differences in negative emotionality (i.e., personality traits), brief emotional episodes, symptoms of emotional distress, and emotional disorders. Each of these emotion constructs has been examined as an influence on the development and course of coronary heart disease, a common cause of death resulting from the progression of atherosclerosis in the arteries that otherwise supply blood to the myocardium.

Description

Negative emotions have been suggested as an influence on the development and course of coronary heart disease (CHD) for centuries since the earliest descriptions of this common and costly medical condition. CHD begins as early as childhood or adolescence, with the development of fatty streaks within the walls of the coronary arteries. Over decades, these progress to more substantial coronary artery lesions, with the buildup of lipids and inflammatory...

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, New York 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of PsychologyUniversity of UtahSalt Lake CityUSA