A new European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Clinical Consensus Statement has called for greater awareness of the relationship between mental health conditions and cardiovascular disease (CVD). 

The Consensus Statement, published at the ESC Congress 2025 in Madrid, recommends that mental health symptoms be systematically screened for during cardiovascular care, and cardiovascular risk routinely assessed for those being treated for mental health conditions. 

The Consensus Statement summarises what is known about how to prevent or minimise negative outcomes. The document also highlights significant gaps in knowledge which need to be addressed.

The Consensus Statement also recommends that mental health and psychosocial risk factors should become part of cardiovascular risk assessments for healthy individuals.

Significant changes to clinical cardiovascular care are advised in the Consensus Statement. This includes the establishment of psycho-cardio teams, multidisciplinary teams to treat patients that include mental health professionals, such as psychologists or psychiatrists, working alongside cardiovascular care professionals. These teams should be integrated into standard care and tailored to local need.

The publication proposes a cultural shift to treat the combination of mental health conditions and CVD. This will involve improvements in patient care, such as professionals acknowledging the complex relationship between mental health and CVD, integrating both areas of care and advocating for change to implement better integrated care that is tailored to individual circumstances.  

The Consensus Statement also outlines substantial gaps in knowledge of interplay between mental health, cardiovascular health and disease. This includes a lack of evidence-based protocols to support mental health in the general population to reduce the risk of CVD, to screen people with mental health conditions for CVD and to treat mental health conditions in people with CVD. 

The Consensus Statement was developed by the taskforce on mental health and CVD of the ESC and has been endorsed by the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations, the European Psychiatric Association and the International Society of Behavioral Medicine.

To read the Consensus Statement in full, visit escardio.org and search under ‘Guidelines’.