The relationship between mental and physical health: Insights from the study of heart rate variability

ANDREW H.KEMP & DANIEL S. QUINTANA

Here we review our recent body of work on the impact of mood and comorbid anxiety disorders, alcohol dependence, and their treatments on heart rate variability(HRV), a psychophysiological marker of mental and physical wellbeing. We have shown that otherwise healthy, unmedicated patients with these disorders display reduced resting-state HRV, and that pharmacological treatments do not ameliorate these reductions. Other studies highlight that tricyclic medications and the serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors in particular may have adverse cardiovascular consequences.