Draft:Cardiophobia

• Comment: In accordance with Wikipedia's Conflict of interest policy, I disclose that I have a conflict of interest regarding the subject of this article. Lifeisntsobadisit (talk) 09:48, 11 June 2025 (UTC)

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Cardiophobia is the irrational fear of having a heart defect or abnormality. This usually comes in the form of mild worry to extreme, possibly, life-changing, paranoia-like behavior, leading someone to be fully convinced that they have an undiagnosed heart condition, or any other problem that could cause sudden cardiac death, sometimes even after seeking medical help that confirms no issue is present. It is usually described as a form of health-anxiety (hypochondriasis), however, if symptoms become strong enough, the fear will often be compared to, or even fall into the diagnosis criteria for a form of OCD.

Signs and symptoms

Cardiophobia is listed as a form of health-anxiety, and closely fits the criteria of a DSM-5 phobia, due to it commonly causing people who suffer with it to avoid partaking in activities that can increase the heart rate, such as exercise or consuming caffeine. Similar to nosophobia, cardiophobia is unfounded, as sufferers will often believe there is a problem present whether or not they even have symptoms. With cardiophobia, medical reassurance is almost always sought, however, in some cases, reassurance from medical professionals does little to help or ease the paranoia. Other symptoms include: persistently checking your heart rate to try and spot irregularities, such as it beating too fast (tachycardia) or too slow (bradycardia), panic attacks, rapid heartbeat, chest tightening and heart palpitations.

Possible causes

Due to a lack of research on the topic, there isn't that many known, confirmed causes for this phobia. However, the ones most likely are:

Prior experience with ill health

Having early exposure to serious illness in life, especially heart-related problems, is seen as one of the most common contributors for developing cardiophobia, as seeing something of this nature first-hand can often increase someone's perceived vulnerability, leading to a long-lasting fear of developing the same symptoms.

Vicarious acquisition

It's also largely believed that hearing about the phobia can influence your mind to begin to worry about the same thing.

Family history

It's believed to be the case that if a close relative suffers with cardiophobia, then you are at an increased risk of developing it yourself, this usually ties to vicarious learning, however studies also show that anxiety tends to run in families.

Treatments

Due to the lack of research on cardiophobia, there aren't any routine treatments available for it, so it is usually addressed and treated using similar methods and techniques that sufferers of other phobias would likely be given, as methods of treating OCD and GAD, are seen as easily transferable.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy is often seen as a good method to handle symptoms of cardiophobia, by identifying the negative thinking patterns that comes with it, and realizing that the worries being faced are often driven by perception rather than fact, replacing the negative thoughts with more positive ones.

Exposure and response prevention therapy

Exposure and response prevention therapy would likely be used to battle cardiophobia as well. Situations that would cause panic, such as exercise or consuming caffeine, would be induced alongside a trained mental health professional to ensure that the patient does not check their heart rate or do other compulsive actions. This allows for the anxiety to build up and drop off by itself, therefore forcing the person to realize the feared outcome will likely never happen.

Medications

in cases where medicine is prescribed with cardiophobia in attempts to lessen the frequency of symptoms, the most common drugs given are anti-depressants. Benzodiazepines may also be given, however, due to the risk of addiction, these are prescribed with much more caution, and courses of this are usually short-lived. these both work by causing a feeling of relaxation to the user. In some cases, beta-blockers may also be prescribed, as they block the adrenaline that's responsible for a faster heart rate and consequent panic attacks.

Prevalence

The estimates of cardiophobia's prevalence is hard to obtain, however, it is believed that the irrational fear of heart issues isn't uncommon. According to one study, it affects up to 50% of the NCCP population, and according to another, around 30% of people who saw a cardiologist for the first time had chest pain that wasn't caused by a heart issue, but was rather caused by mental problems, such as anxiety. The same study then confirmed that 2%-5% of all emergency room visits were as a result of cardiophobia.

See also

• List of phobias
• Hypochondriasis, health anxiety
• OCD
• Nosophobia, the irrational fear of contracting a disease
• Death anxiety