Psychiatric morbidity after myocardial infarction

Using a standardized interview, psychiatric morbidity was diagnosed in 35 our of 100 consecutive male patients one week after admission to hospital following a first acute myocardial infarction. Sixteen of these patients had been psychiatrically ill before the infarction and their psychiatric symptoms and social difficulties persisted throughout the 12 month period of observation. In contrast, patients whose psychiatric morbidity had been precipitated by the infarction tended to have transient symptoms and fewer problems of social adjustment. Measures of psychiatric morbidity one week after the attack did not predict subsequent mortality or difficulty in returning to work. Only a history of heavy smoking was significantly associated with mortality during the ensuing 12 months. Patients who regarded their illness as a loss or a threat had greater psychiatric morbidity than those who regarded it as an insignificant event.