In this section, we will discuss the importance of mind and spirit.
Mental Health
Whether you are a PH patient or a PH caregiver, taking care of yourself means taking care of your whole self. Whether you are a PH patient or a PH caregiver. It is normal to go through lows after being diagnosed with a chronic illness, however when these lows are persistent and prevent someone from living their best life, they should be addressed.
Patients with chronic diseases are thought to have increased rates of anxiety and depression. Detection and management of anxiety and depression may often go missed.
In a study by Bussotti and Sommaruga, approximately 50% of adult PAH patients may have depression and/or anxiety. However, only one in four of these patients are treated. For children diagnosed with PH, there is limited screening for anxiety and depression by PH teams. Thus, we currently do not know how prevalent anxiety and depression are among these PH patients, suggesting a need for PH teams to screen and help patients who do screen positive. For people with anxiety and depression or other mental health disorders, seeing professionals for therapy or counseling or both can be life-changing and even life-saving. You can talk to your PH team for resources.
Finding Support
Working with a therapist or trained mental health professional can be crucial to helping you live with pulmonary hypertension. Finding a therapist can be daunting, and talking with your primary care physician is an excellent place to start.
Many centers also have specialists in palliative care, who are trained to help patients live with their disease and address side effects of medications as well as cope with living with chronic disease.
In addition, social connections are also important to living a healthy life. Human beings are social creatures, so most of us thrive on at least some social interactions. Connecting with families and friends is invaluable in living day-to-day with pulmonary hypertension. Many people also find support and comfort in faith-based organizations. These connections can help you on many levels. Others find support on social media-based support pages. These can be a great resource. However, if you do have questions about information shared on these pages, please reach out to your PH team.
Mindfulness and meditation have gained popularity to assist with working through stress and anxiety. There are organizations as well as applications (apps) for learning these techniques. Headspace and Calm are popular apps, and Ten Percent Happier is another great appoption that has lessons on how to practice mindfulness and meditation. Mindful.org is a website which also offers several mindfulness and meditation suggestions with descriptions of the free programs as well as pricing for some of the more comprehensive ones. If you do yoga or Pilates, or if you work with a therapist, you may also have opportunities to focus on breathing and relaxation that may be helpful for relaxation and refocusing.
Exercise is also really important for managing stress. The physical release of movement and motion can help alleviate the physical issues that accompany stressful situations. In the book, The Burnout Code, the authors discuss the differences in stressors and stress. While stressors may be persistent, the physiologic response to the stressors, meaning what our body does in reaction to the stressors, is something we can help alleviate, and movement/exercise is one really effective way to do this.
If you are in urgent need of mental health support you can call 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, seven days a week, across the United States. Just dial or text 988. Click here for more information
Bussotti M, Sommaruga M. Anxiety and depression in patients with pulmonary hypertension: impact and management challenges. Vasc Health Risk Manag. 2018 Nov 8;14:349-360. doi: 10.2147/VHRM.S147173. PMID: 30510427; PMCID: PMC6231438.
