Hey Heart Buddies! Wow! This week's episode is what I needed when I was facing heart surgery and I know you'll find it super helpful too.

I interview Dr. Laura Suarez Pardo, a psychocardiologist from Mayo Clinic! Together, she and I explore how mental health impacts cardiac health. Dr. Suarez emphasizes the need for support programs for those with chronic heart conditions. The conversation underscores the importance of addressing psychological issues like depression and anxiety to improve cardiovascular outcomes. I share my personal journey with congenital heart disease and how nutritional changes and mental health therapy aided my recovery. The episode highlights self-compassion, the significance of a supportive healthcare team, and the transition to a "survivorship mindset."

More about today's guest:

Laura Suarez Pardo, MD │ Senior Associate Consultant │ Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry -- Psychocardiology│ Assistant Professor of Psychiatry │ Mayo Clinic College of Medicine

Patient Support Networks

♥ AHA: https://supportnetwork.heart.org/s/

♥ AHA Caregiver support: https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/caregiver-support

♥ Mended Hearts: https://mendedhearts.org/connect/chapters_groups/

♥ Women Heart: https://www.womenheart.org/find-support/

♥ Congenital Heart Disease MN: https://www.conqueringchd.org/minnesota/

♥ Adult Congenital Heart Association – Heart to Heart Peer Mentors: https://www.achaheart.org/your-heart/programs/heart-to-heart/

Books

♥ Facing Heart Disease: A Guide for Patients and Their Families by Theodore A Stern MD, Scott R Beach MD, James

L Januzzi MD

♥ Anger Kills: Seventeen Strategies for Controlling the Hostility That Can Harm Your Health by Redford Williams

♥ ICD connection: Living with an implantable cardioverter by H. McFarland.

♥ One beat at a time – Living with sudden cardiac death by M.D. Noble, M. D.

♥ Russell Douglas Publishing.

♥ defibrillator. A collection of patient & family stories. Ann Arbor: MPublishing.

♥ Mindfulness for Beginners by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

♥ Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn

♥ A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook by Bob Stahl PhD, Elisha Goldstein PhD, Saki Santorelli EdD MA

♥ Mindfulness Meditation for Pain Relief by Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD

♥ The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living Paperback by Russ Harris

♥ Overcoming Depression: A Cognitive Therapy Approach by Mark Gilson and Arthur Freeman

♥ Unwinding Anxiety by Judson Brewer

♥ Mastery your Anxiety and Worry by David H. Barlow and Michelle G. Craske

♥ The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness by Meghan O'Rourke

♥ How to Be Sick: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and Their Caregivers by Toni Bernhard

♥ Minding the Body Workbook by Jason M. Satterfield

♥ Coping with Chronic Illness: A Cognitive-Behavioral Approach for Adherence and Depression by Steven Safren, Jeffrey Gonzalez,, Nafisseh Soroudi

♥ Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Dr. Kristin Neff (Author)

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