Can a person get upset enough to have a heart attack?

Question

I felt this way earlier and it didn't feel like anxiety to me. But it went away. I had nowhere to run, nowhere to go, no time to take a minute to be calm. I felt overwhelmed and I knew it wouldn't matter if anyone knew.

I wonder, if I didn't tell myself to calm down and if I did not pray and calm down, could I have had a heart attack from this?

Answer 1

As a healthcare provider I can say that: 'Yes, it is potentially possible to get upset and have a heart attack'. But this is based on very individual circumstances, such as having some heart disease to begin with. If you are young and healthy to begin with and have no congenital abnormalities (heart defects you are born with) then the chances of it happening are rare. However, I think it is a great ability to be able to calm oneself down. I congradulate you for that. It will help you the rest of your life.

Answer 2

I agree that what you've been experiencing is probably intense anxiety due to stress. Too, if you're young and healthy, most likely, you don't have a heart condition that hasn't already been diagnosed. There are always exceptions. Remember a few years back, there was a young Olympic figure skater who suddenly died of a heart attack due to an undiagnosed arterial blockage. But you're right in that stress, depression, loneliness, a positive (or negative) outlook on life, and other psychosocial factors extend beyond affecting ones mood. Studies have shown that people who have heart disease are affected by how they think, feel, and behave, for better or for worse.
In terms of their contribution to heart attacks, psychosocial factors are on a par with smoking, high blood pressure, obesity, and cholesterol problems. How do emotions, behaviors, or social situations promote heart disease or make it worse? No one really knows. But there are plenty of theories.
Stress hormones top the list. They constrict blood vessels, speed up the heartbeat, and make the heart and blood vessels especially reactive to further stress. Psychosocial factors have also been linked with factors that signal increased inflammation, which plays an important role in artery-clogging atherosclerosis. Psychosocial factors could also make people more or less likely to pick up habits that tip them toward heart disease or away from it.
The connection between psychosocial factors and heart disease is so strong that today’s cardiologists should ask their patients about moods, stress, and support system. Unfortunately, most don’t. I'm glad to read that you were able to calm yourself down.

Answer 3

You will not have a heart attack right away but, I would recommend seeing your doctor. Because if you keep having these attacks it will make your heart weaker which will eventually lead to one in the future.

Answer 4

YES !!!!!

Mostly in older people. or younger people on street drugs. How many times have you heard of a guy getting arrested and he dies of a heart attack, all the time

Answer 5

yes, but it sounds more like an anxiety attack because you cannot stop a heart attack

Answer 6

yes n e 1 can have a heart attack from stress ur answer is yes

Answer 7

I think a person can become so upset that they could cause themselves to have a heart attack.

Answer 8

no, a healthy person cant get an M I just from being upset

Answer 9

im not sure but im pretty sure a human cannot control heart attacks

Answer 10

yes