Corporate Stress Solutions: Case Studies: Anne's Heart Attack

Corporate Stress Solutions: Case Studies: Anne's Heart Attack

36-year-old marketing exec learns to balance work/life stress after "heart attack" symptoms, and regains control of her life

Anne was surprised when her cardiologist suggested stress management to treat "heart attack" symptoms. Marketing director for an aggressive high-tech firm at 36, she was in line for promotion to vice president. She drove a new sports car, traveled extensively, and had an active social life. Sure, she felt stressed occasionally, but she was in control of her life and doing quite nicely, thank you.

That was on the outside; on the inside, she felt "the wheels on my tricycle are about to fall off. I’m a mess." For several months, she had had attacks of shortness of breath, heart palpitations, chest pains, dizziness, and tingling sensations in her fingers and toes. Filled with a sense of impending doom, she would become anxious to the point of panic. Every day she dreaded the panic attacks that could strike without reason or warning.

The symptoms were so bad that on two occasions she rushed to a nearby hospital emergency room, fearing she was having a heart attack. The first episode followed an argument with her boyfriend about the future of their relationship, and the second followed a fight at work with her boss over a new marketing campaign. Tests showed nothing wrong with her heart. She left the hospital with instructions on how to breathe into a paper bag to reduce hyperventilation, and a prescription for tranquilizers. She felt foolish, and went home embarrassed, angry and confused. She remained convinced that she had almost had a heart attack.

She sought the advice of a cardiologist, who conducted a battery of tests with no physical findings. He saw how stressed out she was, though, and suggested our services to her.

Anne took the Stress Navigator and shared the results with a psychologist. She learned about the sources and nature of her health problems, and how stress could cause her physical symptoms. She discovered she was dealing with very high levels of family stress and that her personal life and job were generating additional stress for her. She also found that many of the symptoms she was experiencing were probably stress-related. She became aware of how susceptible to stress she was making herself by not sleeping or eating well, not exercising, abusing caffeine and alcohol, and living on the edge financially.

The Stress Navigator Interpretive Report crystallized for Anne how susceptible she was to stress, what was causing her stress, and how stress was expressing itself in her "heart attack" and other symptoms. As she learned about her stress, Anne was increasingly able to separate her concerns into simpler, more manageable problems, and to reduce the risk of further panic/"heart" attacks.

Back Next

Experiencing technical problems? Click here to contact the Web master.

Copyright 1999, 2000 Stress Directions, Inc.