Is There a Link Between Heart Attacks and Anxiety Attacks?
Lorna Thorpe suffers from chronic panic and anxiety attacks. She writes in her journal, “It’s around midnight and I’m laying awake, finger on my pulse, afraid to go to sleep in case I never wake up. I’m not having palpitations, but I’m uncomfortably aware of my heartbeat and the physical presence of my heart in my chest.” She wonders if she should call a friend or go to the emergency room. She also wonders if she will burn to death in her sleep since there is a 1/10,000 risk that this could happen. She couldn’t find recent statistics on how many people die from heart attacks in their sleep but she checks her heart rate and contemplates dying anyway. At age 50 Lorna did have a heart attack. Lucky to have survived, she’s now redirected her attention toward understanding panic anxiety and exploring the link between incessant worrying and heart failure. The life of a person suffering from attacks of stress and anxiety is full of relentless suffering. The individual feels constantly pumped
