Livingston’s experience reflects a troubling pattern that affects up to half of all heart attack survivors, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement published today in Circulation. The research reveals that psychological distress following a heart attack is not just common but potentially deadly, with persistent mental health symptoms nearly doubling the risk of future cardiac events. “Psychological distress after a heart attack is quite common but often goes unrecognized. This represents a significant shift in how the medical community understands the relationship between mental and physical health after cardiac events. Depression strikes one in three heart attack survivors annually, compared to less than one in ten adults in the general population.