The Link Between Stress and High Blood Pressure: Strategies for Stress Management
Everybody feels stressed sometimes. Some people experience it more often than others. Chronic stress can increase the risk of many health problems which have severe consequences like high blood pressure and can cause severe heart problems. However, stress can be managed if you know certain strategies to manage it. Learn how stress relates to high blood pressure and strategies to manage stress in this article. Get a consultation with the best cardiologists in Brooklyn.
The link between stress and high blood pressure
Stress and high blood pressure are linked more closely than you think. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), researchers haven’t understood fully how stress is linked with blood pressure. But they are sure about one thing, stress raises blood pressure temporarily.
They believe it may happen because when you feel stressed, your body in response releases stress hormones including adrenaline and cortisol into the blood. These hormones prepare your body for a “fight or flight” response by increasing your heart rate and constricting blood vessels to get more blood to your muscles so that you have more strength to act. This constriction of blood vessels and increased heart rate can temporarily raise your blood pressure until the stress disappears.
Your body returns to its original state after stress goes away. This is known as situational stress and its effects are generally short-term and disappear when the stressful event is over. “Fight or flight” response is very essential for your body especially when you face an imminent threat where you can handle the situation by confronting or fleeing. However, scientists are not sure these changes are enough to cause severe/chronic high blood pressure.
A 2021 study found that stress can cause measurable increases in blood pressure, which means levels of stress affect stress hormones which is linked with the risk of high blood pressure. So, stress hormones may play a significant role in causing high blood pressure, although more research is needed to investigate this possibility. As in modern times, many stressful events can cause chronic and constant stress which takes days or weeks to get off our heads. So, how this can affect your blood pressure is still not clear, that’s why more studies are needed.
This clears one thing, stress and high blood pressure are linked. Stress can be one of the many factors that cause high blood pressure until your stress goes away.
Strategies for Stress Management
While you can’t avoid stress, you can take certain steps to manage your stress. These are:
- Learn relaxation techniques:
Relaxation techniques like meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, deep breathing exercises, and yoga are some of the most common relaxation techniques that relieve your stress by calming your body and mind.
- Learn to say “no.” Don’t promise much:
When you say yes to everything, you say no to your mental and physical health. Because when you do everything and skip the things you want to do, it leads to stress. That’s why you need to reevaluate priorities and make difficult choices so that you can ensure you create a good balance between work and personal life. For that, you can learn time-management skills that help you create the perfect balance in work and personal relationships.
- Know your stress triggers and avoid them:
Analyze your life and note your stress triggers in a notebook that may occur regularly. Create a plan to tackle them even before they upset you. For example, if you hate to get stuck in traffic then try to complete your work earlier to avoid the traffic jam.
- Build a strong support system:
Having a good supportive group of family and friends is particularly important to building character and fostering growth. This support system helps you deal with stressful situations and ensures you stay strong enough to overcome them.
- Make certain lifestyle changes:
Exercising regularly, eating a balanced diet, getting enough sleep, avoiding smoking, alcohol (in moderation, or not drinking at all), are some of the lifestyle changes that can help you manage your stress. You can also eat slowly, set your sleep schedule, listen to music, etc. to ensure that your mind gets relaxed, and your stress goes away.
If your stress is difficult to handle, then seek the help of a mental health professional.
When to talk to a doctor?
If you have high blood pressure and you stay stressed most of the time due to certain situations, then you should visit a doctor. If high blood pressure is not managed on time, it can lead to serious complications like coronary heart disease, heart attack, stroke, and kidney failure. If you notice a few signs of the following, it indicates high blood pressure which needs to be addressed by a doctor, including
- severe headaches
- chest pain
- dizziness
- difficulty breathing
- nausea
- vomiting
- blurred vision or other vision changes
- anxiety
- confusion
- buzzing in the ears
- nosebleeds
- abnormal heart rhythm
Keep in mind, generally high blood pressure doesn’t cause any symptoms but if you’re at risk of the condition, you should talk with your doctor. An individual also should talk with a doctor if he/she feels stressed regularly, which impacts their physical and mental health.
Stress can increase the risk of high blood pressure because the body produces stress hormones which constrict the blood vessels and increase the heart rate which in turn increases the blood pressure. However, it only happens until your stress lasts and then it returns to a normal state. However, more studies are needed on how they are connected and what impact chronic stress has on blood pressure. High blood pressure can also be caused by many other factors like obesity, pregnancy, and a lack of physical activity. If not managed on time, it can lead to serious complications. So, manage your stress and blood pressure to ensure better overall health.
If you need help with blood pressure or any cardiovascular problems, visit our cardiology clinic in Brooklyn to get professional medical help. If you need tips on how to keep your heart healthy, call us on +1(347) 384-5690. The Cardiologists at Doral Health & Wellness consistently have outstanding patient satisfaction ratings. The professionals at Heart Specialist Brooklyn are able to greatly improve their patient’s health and quality of life because of their vast training and experience. New Yorkers can get the greatest medical, surgical, and cardiovascular care at Doral Health & Wellness Brooklyn. Visit us at 1797 Pitkin Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11212.