The American Heart Association released on Monday a series of guidelines concerning heart patients and their hearts, meaning the part of the body as well as the soul. Recent observations have finally concluded officially that there is, in fact, a link between the physical and emotional matters of the heart.

Patients who have suffered a heart-attack or have any other heart disease are much more likely to be depressed, thus making their general state worse. Studies have shown that 15 to 20 percent of hospitalized heart attack patients met the diagnostic criteria for major depression and that depression is about three times more common after a heart attack.

Not only that, but the mental state itself may lead to a worsening situation, as depressed patients have at least twice the risk of a second heart attack. These patients are more likely to avoid, to “forget” or to not “feel like” taking their medications. They could also stop making other life changes that could help reduce their risk of subsequent heart attacks. Depression can also bring about changes in the body, including reduced heart rate and increases in blood factors that encourage the formation of blood clots.

This is why the American Heart Association recommended heart patients should be regularly screened for signs of depression. "I think we could reduce considerable suffering and improve outcomes. I know we can do more by screening,” said Erika Froelicher, professor of nursing at the University of California, San Francisco, as quoted by the Associated Press.

Doctors say that depression screenings should be as common as blood pressure and cholesterol tests, and it shouldn’t take more than a few questions for a doctor to understand the patient’s mental state. If signs of depression are present, the patients should be referred to a clinical social worker or psychologist that would provide an accurate diagnostic followed by therapy, exercise, antidepressants or cardiac rehabilitation.