PSYCHIATRIC ASPECTS OF CARDIOVASCULAR-DISEASE

Psychiatric aspects of cardiovascular disease include both the effects of emotion and mental disorders on the heart and the psychiatric comp lications of cardiac disease. Anxiety, anger-hostility, depression, an d the Type A behavior pattern, as well as acute psychological stressor s, have clear effects on the development and progression of coronary h eart disease. Management of depression and anxiety, the most prominent psychiatric problems, requires an understanding of both medical and p sychological factors. New treatments for end-stage cardiac disease and their specific psychological consequences are discussed.