With joy, excitement or stress, everyone has probably felt a “heart stumbling”. This is usually harmless.
If the palpitations occur repeatedly, this can be a sign of heart disease. However, if doctors cannot find an organic cause, the palpitations may be psychological. This is often the case with depression and panic attacks.
Psychosomatic palpitations – what is it?
Psychosomatic cardiac stumbling is when medical examinations show no organic cause for the stumbling heart. The examination results are unremarkable. Nevertheless, those affected have the feeling that their heart is getting out of rhythm or is stopping. Many people are familiar with changes in heart rhythm, especially in connection with stress.
The heart beats faster, more powerfully, sometimes seems to stop briefly, only to start up again all the more powerfully. If healthy people occasionally experience heart palpitations, this is usually not dangerous. If the heart stumbles again and again, you should see a doctor. Cardiac patients should always have changes in the heartbeat clarified by a doctor.
“What happens when the heart stumbles? There is usually an extra beat in the so-called atria, but this is not felt because it is very weak. This extra beat causes the heart to take a ‘compensatory pause’ to get back into its beat finding a rhythm, so the heartbeat that follows is a little later and stronger, which is perceived as a palpitation.
If no organic cause can be identified, heart palpitations can be traced back to psychological stress,” explains Dr. Andreas Hagemann, specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy and senior medical director of the private clinics in Duisburg, Eschweiler and Merbeck in North Rhine-Westphalia, which specialize in psychosomatic pain therapies as well as burnout and stress disorders. Westphalia.
what happens in the heart
Excitement, joy, but also negative mental stress such as lovesickness and sadness as well as mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety can be causes of psychosomatic palpitations. Intense emotions affect heart rhythm. If the body releases stress hormones, including adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol, the body goes into an alarm state. Among other things, the heart beats faster, heartbeats become stronger, blood pressure rises and breathing becomes faster.
“These stress-related changes in bodily functions can sometimes lead to heart palpitations. The body or the heart does not differentiate between positive and negative stress. It reacts to the release of stress hormones in the same way,” says Hagemann. “Whereas hormone levels quickly return to normal after acute stress, chronic stress maintains the level of excitement. Then there is a risk that the heart will become rhythmic. This means that the variation in the sequence of the individual beats becomes less and less. This promotes the development of arrhythmias .”
Chronic stress is a health risk
Short-term stress and the associated palpitations are usually harmless. The heart finds its rhythm again when the stressful situation is over, the hormone level drops and the nervous system comes to rest. It can become critical for the heart if it is exposed to strong emotional stress over a long period of time.
“In the case of chronic stress, the quality of the stress hormones changes. The hormone cortisol then becomes more important,” says Hagemann. “The effect of cortisol lasts longer compared to adrenaline and noradrenaline. It does not lead to the maximum activation, as it is caused by adrenaline and noradrenaline. Psychosomatic complaints, including psychosomatic palpitations, are therefore primarily the result of chronic Stress.”
Inflammatory processes in the heart vessels
Permanently excessive amounts of stress hormones drive blood pressure up, accelerate the heartbeat and also influence the heart rhythm. In addition, stress hormones promote inflammatory processes in the body – including in the vessels of the heart. Blood coagulation also changes, which entails the risk of vasoconstriction and vascular blockage.
“Intense long-term stress promotes heart diseases such as heart attacks, cardiac insufficiency and cardiac arrhythmias,” warns Hagemann. “If stress affects the heart, it is important to reduce the load. If a mental illness is the cause of psychosomatic cardiac palpitations, such as depression or anxiety, this should be treated.”
dr Andreas Hagemann is a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy. As medical director, he heads the private clinics in Duisburg, Eschweiler and Merbeck in North Rhine-Westphalia, which specialize in psychosomatic pain therapy as well as burnout and stress disorders.
Palpitations in panic attacks
Panic attacks are an example of a frequent occurrence of psychosomatic palpitations. Panic attacks occur alone or in conjunction with an anxiety disorder. Affected people suddenly feel intense fear – without there being a recognizable trigger. This leads to a sudden release of adrenaline with the corresponding symptoms such as tension, increase in heart rate and breathing rate and an increase in blood pressure.