Heart Disease and Depression

Male Speaker: As a cardiologist, Christopher Leet dispenses advice to his patients about how to leave a healthy lifestyle. Dr. Christopher Leet: Exercise is very important. Stress is a real big item and diets are really important. Male Speaker: But for years, he didn't practice what he preached. In the 90s, Dr. Leet was overweight and out of shape. Dr. Christopher Leet: My blood pressure was elevated, my cholesterol was elevated. My family history was very abnormal. But like a lot of people do at that age, a lot of people just say, well, next year I am going to do something about this. Male Speaker: For Dr. Leet, next year was almost too late. Dr. Christopher Leet: One day at the end of the day, I began developing chest pain while I was finishing making rounds at the hospital. So actually I came over to my office across the street and I decided to do an electrocardiogram on myself. And that showed that I was indeed having a heart attack. Male Speaker: He was rushed to the emergency room. Dr. Christopher Leet: I laid there watching the monitor and sure enough, after a few minutes, I saw my on cardiac arrest. I knew that I only had about five seconds of consciousness after that, and I even reached up and try to thump myself on the chest at that time and then the lights went out. Male Speaker: Chris Leet woke up with a stint in his heart and a change of heart. Dr. Christopher Leet: It was time that I started doing everything that I had been telling all of my patients to do for years. Male Speaker: That meant exercise and a healthy diet. But as his weight dropped and his health improved, he soon learned mending his body was the easy part. Dr. Christopher Leet: One day I was sitting at home and I had a panic attack and even as much as I knew about the situation, I wasn't sure I was having another heart attack. It's probably the worst that I ever felt short of actually having the heart attack. Male Speaker: Three months after surviving his cardiac arrest, Dr. Leet was suffering from anxiety and depression. Dr. Christopher Leet: I intended to get some really bad dreams every night, every night, for like a couple of weeks, and you wake up in the morning and you hadn't gotten a goodnight sleep and you thought, oh, I really don't feel like going to work and all of these sorts of things. Male Speaker: Leet's case is far from unusual. In fact, one in five heart attack patients experiences depression during the initial months of recovery. Dr. Christopher Leet: A lot of these episodes like post traumatic stress and other regular depression and those sorts of things usually happen about two or three months after the episode, just about the time that everybody thinks that everything is going well. Male Speaker: Though the problem is often overlooked, Leet says, it's important to recognize and treat it. Studies show patients who suffer from depression tend to fare worse than those who don't. The treatments that Leet recommends include medication and counseling. Dr. Christopher Leet: Concentrate on the sound of your breathing. Male Speaker: He also says relaxation techniques like meditation and yoga can be effective. So impressed with his own results, today, he teaches these techniques to his patients. Dr. Christopher Leet: With each breath in you take in the light and just imagine your chest just expanding and the muscles relaxing. Male Speaker: Regular exercise can be another way to help your mind as well as your body. As Dr. Leet has learned from his own experiences, such steps can make a difference, and people with heart disease don't have to live with depression. Dr. Christopher Leet: Many patients say, oh, you just don't understand what I am going through. Well, this has given me the opportunity to say, yes, I do understand what you are going through.