It is very natural for people to feel emotionally devastated when they learn that they have heart failure. But accepting the reality can actually make life easier. Researchers in Poland found that people who were able to adapt to their illness reported much more energy, less pain, a brighter outlook and better sleep than those who couldn’t accept their illness. It is easier to cope up with negative emotions, diagnosis and treatment by accepting the illness and having a positive attitude. It also becomes difficult for healthcare personnel to deal with the patients who feel helpless and hopeless. A study was carried out in a University’s Cardiology department involving 100 patients being treated in 2012 and 2013. The patients, whose average age was 63 and who had heart failure for at least six months, answered questionnaires about their energy levels, pain, emotional reactions, sleep, social isolation and mobility. They also reported on how much the illness was affecting their work, socializing and sex lives. It was seen that those who were older than 60 tended to be more isolated socially, less physically mobile and to feel worse emotionally. Women reported less energy and mobility than men. When the researchers compared patients’ acceptance levels with their symptoms and quality of life responses, they found that people who scored higher for acceptance of their illness had a much better quality of life. Indeed, acceptance was the only independent predictor of quality of life, according to the results.

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