By admin
Ireland Baldwin just paid a visit to Jada Pinkett Smith’s famous red table, and in a candid “Red Table Talk” episode released on April 25, the actress and model opened up about her experience with anxiety and a specific anxiety disorder called cardiophobia. Essentially, this term means that “I have a fear of my own heartbeat,” Baldwin explains to cohost Willow Smith. Whenever Baldwin notices an increase in her heart rate, whether from nerves or exercise or excitement, “I start panicking,” she says. “I’m convinced, no matter what anyone says, that I’m gonna have a heart attack and I [have] to go to a hospital.”
Baldwin says her cardiophobia has resulted in “over 20” hospital visits and that it takes a doctor’s confirmation of her heart health for her to feel truly reassured that everything is OK. “It’s so crippling,” the 26-year-old says, explaining the frustration of being told she’s fine or asked to simply “breathe” in the midst of a panic attack brought on by cardiophobia. Baldwin recalls witnessing a stranger suffer a heart attack as a child, and says it may be the original trigger behind her disorder. “That messed me up,” she says. “I think that image never left my head, ever.”
What Is Cardiophobia?
Though cardiophobia isn’t as well-known as many other phobias, it affects hundreds of thousands of people in the US, according to a 2008 analysis. It’s defined as an anxiety disorder characterized by fears relating to your heart, with symptoms including:
- Repeated complaints of chest pain with no physical pathology
- Heart palpitations
- Fears of having a heart attack
People with cardiophobia believe they’re experiencing a physical heart problem “despite repeated negative medical tests,” according to a 1992 study. To relieve their intense anxiety, people with cardiophobia “seek continuous reassurance” and will often make repeated visits to medical facilities, just as Baldwin describes in her interview. Phobias in general can also cause panic attacks, and to someone with cardiophobia, the physical symptoms of a panic attack — including a rapid heart beat, chest pain, and feeling faint — can be easily mistaken for a heart attack, thus increasing their fear and anxiety in a kind of vicious cycle.
