Anxiety, a state of uneasiness or apprehension toward a vague or nonspecific threat, is prevalent in cardiac patients. Estimates are as high as 70% to 80% during the acute phase,1,2 and it persists long-term in 20% to 25% of patients. Anxiety inflicts its toll through 3 major pathways. In the physiological pathway, anxiety affects the muscu-loskeletal system by causing muscular tension; the autonomic nervous system by arousing sympathetic responses; and the psychoneuroendocrine system (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis) by triggering secretion of catecholamines and glucocorticoids (see FigureF1). The psychological pathway elevates negative mood states, whereas the social-behavioral pathway promotes disconnection from self and others and stress inhibition with resultant unhealthy lifestyle behaviors.3,4 The deleterious effects of this psychophysiological stress response are troublesome because anxiety is an independent predictor of arrhythmic/ischemic complications and increased mortality in cardiac patients.4...
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1 March 2009
Clinical Evidence Review|
March 01 2009
Relaxation: A Self-Care Healing Modality Reduces Harmful Effects of Anxiety
Margo A. Halm, RN, PhD, CNS-BC
Margo A. Halm, RN, PhD, CNS-BC
Margo A. Halm is a clinical nurse specialist and director of nursing research and quality at United Hospital in St Paul, Minnesota, where she leads and mentors staff in principles of clinical research and evidence-based practice.
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Am J Crit Care (2009) 18 (2): 169–172.
Citation
Margo A. Halm; Relaxation: A Self-Care Healing Modality Reduces Harmful Effects of Anxiety. Am J Crit Care 1 March 2009; 18 (2): 169–172. doi: https://doi.org/10.4037/ajcc2009867
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