Put out the fire
Emotional burnout was associated with the most dangerous violation of the heart rhythm
Polina Gershberg, Naked Science
Atrial fibrillation is the most common form of cardiac arrhythmia. It is observed when chaotic electrical activity develops in the atria. The atria knock down the rhythm, and an uneven pulse leads to less efficient work of the heart. This condition significantly increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes, including fatal ones. There are still no unambiguous estimates of what causes this condition.
In addition to age and sedentary lifestyle, various forms of persistent long-term distress are associated with an increased risk of arrhythmia, but this is a little-studied area.
In an article published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology (Garg et al., Associations of anger, vital exhaustion, anti-depressant use, and poor social ties with incident atrial fibrillation: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study), scientists from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles considered the potential role in the formation of atrial fibrillation of a condition such as emotional burnout.
Emotional burnout is an increasing emotional exhaustion, usually caused by serious stress at work or at home. As this condition develops, a person plunges into apathy, loses attention to his duties, "dehumanizes" people associated with the point of occurrence of the disorder – his family, colleagues and/ or clients; feels a growing sense of professional insolvency and a wide range of negative emotions. Over time, depersonalization, a whole range of mental disorders, as well as physical diseases can develop on this basis.
Scientists conducted a survey in which there were more than 11 thousand participants. They were asked questions about emotional exhaustion, frequent anger, use of antidepressants and insufficient level of social support. Then their condition was monitored for almost 25 years, checking for the development or absence of atrial fibrillation.
The risk of developing atrial fibrillation was 20% higher in those who showed the highest level of burnout – compared to people who had almost no signs of this stressful condition. At the same time, there was no connection between anger, taking antidepressants, insufficient social support and the development of atrial fibrillation.
Scientists note that in part this work confirms the conclusions of earlier studies – but there are significant contradictions. New data cast doubt on the relationship between taking antidepressants and the development of fibrillation, and, consequently, the risk of arrhythmia. "Obviously, there is still a lot of work to be done," says the author of the work, Dr. Parvin K. Garg.
In order to more accurately determine the mechanisms of the detected relationship, as well as to confirm their causal component, further research is needed. However, the authors are already making assumptions about them. "Vital exhaustion is associated with increased inflammation and increased activation of the body's response to physiological stress. When both of these phenomena occur chronically, they can have serious and destructive consequences for the heart tissue, which can eventually lead to the development of such an arrhythmia," explains Dr. Garg.
The work emphasizes the high destructiveness of emotional exhaustion. Workaholism, encouraging a constant stressful management style in the workplace can lead to a large number of premature deaths. These works fit well into the "death pattern": the connection of burnout with the risk of heart attacks and strokes, regardless of arrhythmia, has already been confirmed. In the future, it is necessary to determine how best to prevent such consequences for people who cannot avoid the onset of burnout or are already in this state.
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