How Does Your Mental Health Impact Blood Pressure? Doctor Explains

Have you ever noticed that your rate of breathing increases when you are anxious or stressed? Yes, this is because of increased blood pressure that is caused because of mental health issues. Not all people have major mental health problems because of general anxiety and stress but sometimes continuous stress could lead to such conditions. Short-term spike in blood pressure levels could be controlled but if it happens regularly, then it might cause hypertension and problems associated with it. Today we will try to understand the role of mental health issues on blood pressure of the person and how people can get affected by it.  

Stress and High BP: What is the Link? 

Stressful situations could be caused because of work pressure, personal problems and different conditions that could affect your mental peace. Stress could cause a long-term blood pressure spike. We spoke to Dr. Trishna Chaturvedi, Consutant Cardiologist from Ivory Hospital to know about the link between mental health conditions and lowering blood pressure.  

One of the ways to lower down your stress is to engage in physical activities. High blood pressure could be caused because of increase in stress levels. You need to understand that improving your health needs to start with your mental stability. Once you have things sorted in your personal and work life, stress could also be managed, so is the blood pressure.  

Reaction to Mental Health on Blood Pressure 

As humans, out body produces a number of hormones that could affect you in a stressful environment. These hormones are responsible to increase your blood pressure leading to faster heartbeat. The blood vessels become narrow in this condition which might be dangerous to your health.  

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There is no proof that stress could be a major cause of extensive cases of hypertension. However, many doctors have observed that stress could react with your body in unhealthy ways. Here are some reasons for you to increase your blood pressure in times of stress- 

• Smoking 
• Drinking too much alcohol 
• Eating unhealthy food items 

Stress that results to hypertension could also bring a number of associated problems related to mental health with it. This could involve anxiety, depression and isolation from the friends. There has not been any evidence that could suggest this but a lot of people do suffer from such conditions.  

Effect of Mental Health on Hypertension 

Mental health could actually break down your entire body functioning and process in such a way that it could be hard to recover from it. It might not directly cause health issues but can lead to the following hypertension problems- 

• Damage blood vessels 
• Heart problems 
• Kidney issues 
• Long-term high blood pressure 

How to Prevent Mental Health issues for Hypertension? 

Reducing your stress levels could actually have a negative effect on your health. Here are some tips that could help reduce mental health disorders- 

1.  You do not need to rush every time, plan your things in such a way that you have adequate time to finish your tasks and get to places timely.  

2. Breathe and relax every now and then. You need to take a break from your work and relax your mind.  

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3. Exercise- Physical activities could be natural stressbusters. You should always try to involve yourself in some kind of physical exercise or work that deviates your mind from stress. 

4. Get plenty of sleep, not too much but in good amount. You should at least complete 7 hours of sleep in a day. 

5. Try to mediate or practice yoga regularly for a short period of time. Even doing it for 15-20 minutes could be helpful.

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