Myocardial infarction and the emotional climate.

Within the general population people destined for myocardial infarction are found to be more obsessional and greater worriers than others. Moreover, in the year before their infarction they display high levels of sadness, anxiety-related symptoms, loss of libido, and fatigue, unrelated to angina and other physical discomforts. They also claim, more so than others, to have no fear of having an incurable illness. Derived optimum weightings to responses to items in the Crown-Crisp Experimental Index permit the development of a simple scoring system which in the present study allows a two-thirds correct identification of those due for imminent infarction and an overall 81.5% correct classification of infarct/non-infarct cases. This apparent capacity of the instrument now needs to be tested in a prospective study. In the year after infarction survivors in the present study show very high levels of dysphoria and social withdrawal.