Redefining psychocardiology: Integrating depression management into heart failure care for enhanced long-term recovery and prognosis

Figure 1 Bidirectional relationship between heart failure and depression and their impact on clinical outcomes. This figure illustrates the bidirectional relationship between heart failure and depression, where heart failure worsens depression by reducing left ventricular function, increasing hospitalization rates, and impairing exercise capacity, while depression in turn impairs self-care, increases inflammation, and reduces physical activity, leading to poorer outcomes and increased mortality risk.

Figure 2 Role of digital health technologies in managing depression and self-care in heart failure patients. This figure illustrates the integration of digital health technologies, such as mobile applications, remote monitoring, and artificial intelligence-driven mood tracking, into depression management for heart failure patients. These technologies support personalized care plans by facilitating collaboration between cardiologists and mental health professionals, ultimately improving long-term recovery, prognosis, and quality of life. The figure was created using BioRender (Supplementary material).