Diagnosis as a traumatic event
The diagnosis of Cardiomyopathy is an earthquake in the life of a human being. Knowing that you have a heart that is not "normal" or even "sick" breaks the balance in which you have lived until then and makes it necessary to build a new one, which allows you to accept Cardiomyopathy and adapt in the best possible way and counteract possible anxiety and depression.
Acceptance and adaptation: a complex journey
Acceptance and adaptation require time and depend on various factors, linked to personality and environment (character, age, presence or absence of a family, social and friendly network), the possible need for specific therapies and above all how these are presented or "imposed" by the cardiologist. An example is the implantation of a Defibrillator, which can be proposed in an erroneous way with terrifying prospects related to the risk of sudden death, instead of being proposed as a support element: a device capable of guaranteeing the safety of our life.
The role of the specialist and communication of therapy
The process of acceptance and adaptation can be difficult and very long, so much so that it causes considerable mental suffering in patients with cardiomyopathy with expenditure of physical and mental energy, anxious symptoms and sleep disorders. In this case, specialist help is useful to alleviate the suffering and resolve the disorders, promoting the process of processing and acceptance of the disease. The psychological impact and the need for support Episodes of decompensation, hospital admissions, therapeutic changes can represent further critical moments, in which the patient needs to “re-negotiate” with the disease and with his own body. When this process fails or is difficult, the patient may complain of emotional disturbances related to cardiomyopathy with a sense of frustration, inability and impotence.
Ambivalence towards life-saving devices
The proposal of a life-saving device, such as a defibrillator, even if well formulated, can be experienced in an ambivalent way and represent a moment of crisis. Seen as an intervention that preserves life, it can also appear, due to the fear of inappropriate shocks, threatening and persecutory to the point of being unbearable. The thought of having a foreign instrument implanted in one's body, which is continuously "felt" under the skin and modifies the perception of our body, can lead to the rejection of the implant, despite the advantages and guarantees that it could bring.
Transplantation: Between Hope and Anguish
The waiting period for a transplant, even for highly motivated patients, can be destabilizing and very difficult: the hope and expectation of change alternate with the anguish of what must be faced, to the point of arriving at a strong state of anxiety and depression in patients with cardiomyopathy.
Finding psychological balance with the help of a specialist
Living with Cardiomyopathy sometimes involves breaking balances that have been achieved with difficulty and building new ones, with a considerable effort that can put the patient's psychological well-being in crisis. When this happens, as explained above, the intervention of a specialist is essential to evaluate the most functional way of helping. Psychological support through weekly or fortnightly interviews may be sufficient, possibly associated with pharmacological therapy. These interventions can allow a rapid modification of the condition of emotional fragility in cardiomyopathy and the rapid recovery of well-being.
