Summary
Heart health and mental health are connected. Mental wellbeing and heart health are linked. Look at the resources available for more information. Take action to promote your mental wellbeing. Contact your federal elected officials to thank them for the federal agencies which conduct research, fund research, and provide information to help us learn about health conditions and health emergencies. Don’t wait.
Heart Health for Mental Wellbeing
Heart health is important for our mental wellbeing. Let’s explore heart health for mental wellbeing.
American Heart Association for Our Wellbeing
A wonderful resource is the American Heart Association website.
Imagine your child has a cardiac condition. How would you feel?
Consider caring for a family member, a partner, a neighbour, or a colleague living with a heart condition. Among the resources you might access, mental health resources would likely be among those resources.
The Link Between Heart and Mind
The American Heart Association provides a cursory review of the connection between heart health and mental health.
Stress affects the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis which, via biochemical messengers, affects cardiac functioning. Here is a brief review article:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10950038/
Cureus (Feb 18, 2024), Understanding Mental Health Challenges in Cardiovascular Care.
Protecting Your Mental Wellbeing
In previous posts, I have discussed several options to protect and maintain mental wellbeing. Consider the following list of activities as a reminder of the actions you can take to maintain and promote your mental wellbeing:
- Eat a balanced diet. March is National Nutrition Month.
- Adopt a bedtime routine: lower the intensity of indoor lights; turn down the thermostat; avoid electronic devices; minimize daily caffeine intake; go to bed at the same time every night.
- Exercise during the daytime.
- Embrace mindfulness practices: gratitude practice; loving kindness practice; compassion practice; yoga asana practices; prayer.
- Immerse yourself in nature.
- Be charitable: do something for someone else; donate to charity.
- Identify a meaningful day activity.
- Prioritize social connectedness.
- Envelop yourself in the arts.
Don’t forget to check your pulse and access the wonderful resources of Hip Hop Public Health:
Remember that working towards mental wellbeing is a process not an endpoint.
Gratitude for the Resources at Our Fingertips
There are many wonderful resources available to us related to health information.
It is important that we all reach out to our elected officials to thank them for the federal and state agencies which provide funding for health research and which inform us of health emergencies. We need those agencies to keep us healthy. We need those agencies to spearhead research that affects our wellbeing and the wellbeing of the entire world.
https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member
Remember: we are all connected. There are no monoliths. The world is one.
Take-Aways: Heart Health for Mental Wellbeing
Change your mind to salvage your heart.
Interpret that statement in as many ways as you wish.
Reach out to someone and tell them that you love them.
In the following song from the musical “On Your Feet”, performed by the actors playing Gloria Estefan’s mother and Emilio Estefan, Gloria Estefan’s husband, we have a poignant reminder of the significance of this recommendation and the stupidity of discord in our lives:
If I Never Got to Tell You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1amoefi1pFg
Be well. Be safe. Be kind. Be strong.
It’s not over until we give up. We, United, Cannot Be Defeated.
Disclaimer: This post is not meant to substitute for a consultation with your mental health professional team.
Selected References:
Borkowski, P., Borkoska, N. (Feb 18, 2024). Understanding Mental Health Challenges in Cardiovascular Care. Cureus, 16(2): e54402. Accessed online on February 23, 2025, at https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10950038/
If you are having thoughts to hurt yourself or to hurt someone else, please CALL 9-1-1; CALL 9-8-8; OR GO to the nearest EMERGENCY ROOM.
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