Dark Bilious Vapors

Newsweek is reporting on the dangers of being worried, irritable and socially inhibited.

The article has a simple test may help predict the negative health effects based on this research:

“Years ago, when the psychologist Johan Denollet was first working with cardiac patients at a university hospital in Antwerp, Belgium, he noticed a paradox. Some heart-attack survivors remained cheerful and optimistic despite extensive cardiac damage. They joined eagerly in rehabilitation programs and adhered to them. Others grew discouraged. They resisted rehab, even after milder heart attacks, and spent most of their energy complaining. Denollet, now a professor of medical psychology at Tilburg University in the Netherlands, suspected there was something fundamentally different about these two groups of patients. So he set out to find a way of measuring it. The tool he developed—a simple, 14-question personality test known as the DS14—is now opening a new frontier in cardiology.

Years ago, when the psychologist Johan Denollet was first working with cardiac patients at a university hospital in Antwerp, Belgium, he noticed a paradox. Some heart-attack survivors remained cheerful and optimistic despite extensive cardiac damage. They joined eagerly in rehabilitation programs and adhered to them. Others grew discouraged. They resisted rehab, even after milder heart attacks, and spent most of their energy complaining. Denollet, now a professor of medical psychology at Tilburg University in the Netherlands, suspected there was something fundamentally different about these two groups of patients. So he set out to find a way of measuring it. The tool he developed—a simple, 14-question personality test known as the DS14—is now opening a new frontier in cardiology.
…
Type A's—the weekend-working perfectionist strivers—were deemed likely candidates for heart disease. Relaxed, noncompetitive Type B's were supposed to be models of health. And Type C's—outwardly pleasant people who avoid conflict by suppressing their feelings—were said to be cancer-prone. The ABC model fell apart in the 1980s, when large studies found no reliable connection between the Type A personality and heart disease

The DS14 is looking more and more like a parlor game worth playing. But don't panic if you score at the high end of the scale. Type D personality itself is not a mental illness. It is a collection of normal human traits. And as Denollet is quick to point out, "there are many Type D individuals who are living healthy lives and functioning quite well." A good marriage can be an antidote to social inhibition, especially if your partner's ease with people compensates for your own discomfort. And even the most distress-prone person can learn through psychotherapy to cope with stress and beat back anxious thoughts. Many Type D people have trouble seeking help—by definition, they're ill at ease and afraid to open up—but physicians and family members can help them over those hurdles. And the test itself can help Type D people own up to their fears and frustrations, since it doesn't require any embarrassing social interaction.

Even if you never fully conquer your distress, you can take practical steps to make it less toxic to your health. Exercise and a wholesome diet will reduce almost anyone's risk of a heart attack. And lifestyle changes that protect your heart can improve your emotional state as well. In a 2001 study, Denollet found that comprehensive cardiac-rehab programs boosted people's moods as well as their survival rates, making their lives both richer and longer. "Warding off emotional distress," he concluded, "may be one mechanism to explain the beneficial effect of rehabilitation on prognosis."

It's still too early to know if the Type D will have more staying power than the A, B or C. Researchers have to test the concept across many cultures. And no one has shown conclusively that easing your distress—whether through meditation, talk therapy or antidepressants—can help prevent heart attacks. For now, feeling better will have to be an end in itself. So take the test, and don't fear the result. You can use it to your advantage.”

Karen on 09.26.05 @ 04:54 PM CST