This article by Kyle Banker first appeared in Bench Press, a publication of the Mass General Research Institute.
February is American Heart Month, an opportunity to raise awareness about the health impacts of heart disease and to spotlight the innovative ways that Mass General researchers are working to tackle these challenges.
Many patients with conditions such as atrial fibrillation and heart failure live a different life after their diagnosis. While you may think it only impacts individuals from a physiological perspective, patients can also experience substantial changes in mental health and behavior. More than 50% of Americans will be diagnosed with a mental illness or disorder at some point in their lifetime, including some cardiac-related patients.
Christopher Celano, MD, and the team at the Cardiac Psychiatry Research Program (CPRP) aim to improve the mental health and medical outcomes of patients with heart disease worldwide.
See his answers below when we asked him about his work in cardiac psychiatry at the Cardiac Psychiatry Research Program.
How Are Mental Health And Heart Health Closely Related?
Our program focuses on promoting well-being and understanding the relationships between psychological well-being and overall health. In addition to recognizing that feeling depressed or anxious can be bad for your heart, there is more and more evidence that feeling positive and optimistic can be protective of heart health and can reduce the risk of developing other chronic medical problems.
So, our group has been trying to develop different kinds of interventions that not only reduce negative feelings in patients but help patients to focus on their strengths and notice and recognize positive things happening around them.
What Activities Improve Heart And Mental Health The Most?
We try to leverage positive feelings into helping people perform different kinds of heart-healthy activities like being physically active, having a healthy diet, and engaging in treatment. We hope that by focusing on improving well-being and encouraging heart-healthy behaviors, we can help people feel more positive and reduce the risk of further heart problems.
Most of our studies primarily focus on promoting physical activity. We know that physical activity is very important for cardiovascular health. It reduces the risk of developing heart disease; among individuals with heart disease, physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of complications or recurrent heart problems. We also know that physical activity has different kinds of mental health benefits.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Your Work?
I am very grateful to do the work that I am doing. Seeing the effects that our programs can have on people is amazing. Helping them to feel less depressed or less anxious, improving their symptoms, helping them have a healthier lifestyle, and fully recovering after hospitalization has been very gratifying. Seeing that many patients can greatly benefit from our extra support by making significant progress in their mental health and physical recovery after these acute cardiac events is encouraging to see.
Regarding our health promotion interventions, it can be gratifying to see when people are improving through performing more healthy behaviors and then receiving feedback when they really feel like the psychological aspects of the program are making a difference.
Many people who are faced with these cardiac events and diseases tend to focus on their limitations because of it, but seeing participants break out of that cycle and become happier and healthier is so gratifying. It can change their perspective and the trajectory of their lifestyle, which is really the goal of our program. We want to help people focus on the things that are important, positive, and meaningful in their lives.
How Would You Describe the Team at the CPRP?
Our team focuses on promoting well-being and other positive feelings in almost all of our studies. We are very positive, excited, and dedicated to the work that we are doing.
Everyone has a very important part to play on our team relating to our research, and we depend on every person. It starts from our leadership, CPRP director Dr. Jeff Huffman, down to the nurses and psychologists who deliver our interventions, our research coordinators, and the fellows who work hard to help our studies run.
I think we work very well together as a cohesive group. We are all grateful for the work we can do, and for our interactions with participants and patients that benefit from all our different programs. So, I think positive, grateful, and excited are the words I would use most when describing the CPRP and our team.
What Are The Next Steps In Your Work?
Our next steps are trying to see whether or not the kinds of interventions we are developing really work at helping individuals to feel more positive and engage in healthy behaviors. If they are effective, the next big question is how they work. Does improving a patient’s mental health lead to them becoming more physically active? And does that increase in physical activity then leads to better heart health?
After all that, we want to see if they are effective in clinical practice, and if so, how we can implement these programs in our clinics and elsewhere. If these programs work, it would be wonderful to see them offered to individuals with heart problems who could benefit from them.
What Do You Do In Your Free Time Outside of Work/Research?
I enjoy spending time with my family; I have a 15-year-old son and an 8-year-old daughter. Spending time with them is very important to me. We like spending time outdoors, so we go on many hikes across New England. Besides that, I enjoy exercising, reading, and playing video games in moderation. All these things are a lot of fun and give me activities to do with my kids while also helping me to have a variety of things going on in addition to my work at Mass General.
Read More
Amonoo HL, Celano CM, Sadlonova M, Huffman JC. Is Optimism a Protective Factor for Cardiovascular Disease? Curr Cardiol Rep. 2021 Oct 1;23(11):158.
Carrillo A, Huffman JC, Kim S, Massey CN, Legler SR, Celano CM. An Adaptive Text Message Intervention to Promote Well-Being and Health Behavior Adherence for Patients With Cardiovascular Disease: Intervention Design and Preliminary Results. J Acad Consult Liaison Psychiatry. 2021 Nov-Dec;62(6):617-624.
Celano CM, Huffman JC, Warraich HJ. Depression and Suicide in Patients Newly Diagnosed With Heart Failure: A Serious and Complicated Issue. JACC Heart Fail. 2022 Nov;10(11):828-830.
Sadlonova M, Kermani MB, Huffman JC, Nikrahan GR, Sadeghi M, Celano CM. Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Efficacy of a Positive Psychology Intervention in Patients With Coronary Heart Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Acad Consult Liaison Psychiatry. 2022 Nov-Dec;63(6):557-566.
About the Mass General Research Institute
Research at Massachusetts General Hospital is interwoven through more than 30 different departments, centers and institutes. MGRI research includes fundamental, lab-based science; clinical trials to test new drugs, devices and diagnostic tools; and community and population-based research to improve health outcomes across populations and eliminate disparities in care. Support Research at MGRI
