Your healthcare professionals may not have talked to you about the emotional aspects of your illness. And you're probably feeling many emotions. You may feel alone, scared or different from the person you were before you learned you had heart disease. And your emotions may be both negative and positive. These feelings are very common — most heart patients have them. They may go away as you learn to understand and manage your condition, but sometimes feelings such as depression may stay with you and require you to seek professional help.

Your emotions can affect your recovery and your risk of future cardiac events, so it's important to understand your feelings, recognize problems and get help if you need it.

Medical reporter John Hammarley discusses anxiety and depression	A patient advises talking about feelings	John Hammarley talks about coping with emotions