Stress and High Blood Pressure: Is STRESS Silently Damaging Your Heart?

Raise your hand if you have ever experienced stress. Did you know that stress and high blood pressure (HBP) have a common link? I'm Dr. Frita, a board-certified kidney doctor and high blood pressure specialist, and today I'm talking to you about how stress can cause hypertension, and more importantly, what to do about it.

ABCs of High Blood Pressure and Hypertension: What You Need to Know

I can't tell you how many times, as a high blood pressure doctor, I've been in my office trying to take care of patients with hypertension, trying to get to the bottom of it, the root cause. I do all of my workups, patient history, physicals, and fancy blood tests. All of the diagnostic tools I use only to find out that, oftentimes, the main cause of their high blood pressure is stress.

We know that stress can be caused by negative events or demanding activities, like road rage, having an argument with your boyfriend, or even encountering a cashier with a nasty attitude for no reason, that can be stressful. Your teenagers can stress you out when they... it doesn't matter what teenagers do, they're just stressful.

But did you know that positive or happy events can also cause stress? Yes. And that stress can affect your health. Happy events like planning your wedding, moving into a new home, or starting your dream job. These things are happy, but they can still cause stress, which can lead to emotional and physiological strain. All of it can raise blood pressure. So today we're going to get to the bottom of things because I'm going to discuss the science behind how stress causes high blood pressure and, more importantly, what you can do about it.

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What Is Stress?

So what exactly is stress? Stress refers to an emotional or physical strain, or tension, caused by negative events, demanding activities, or even positive, happy events, as previously mentioned, can be stressful. And the issue is that stress actually can have a physiological effect, and it can negatively affect your health in many ways, including by causing increased blood pressure.

If you are experiencing stress, sadly, you are not alone because, according to a 2022 American Psychological Association Survey, 76% of the respondents reported that they had experienced at least one symptom of stress over the past month.

So it's very prevalent, and yes, stress can cause hypertension or hbp, and we know that high blood pressure is a leading cause of heart disease. Strokes are the number two cause of kidney failure, which is why I see patients on the dialysis unit.

What Is High Blood Pressure?

There's a direct association between stress and high blood pressure. We talk about blood pressure all the time, but do you really know what it even means? What is the systolic or the diastolic?

Systolic Blood Pressure

Your systolic blood pressure, or that top number, refers to the pressure in your vessels when your heart is contracting.

Diastolic Blood Pressure

The diastolic blood pressure, that bottom number, refers to the pressure in your blood vessels when the heart is relaxed.

What Is Normal Blood Pressure?

A normal blood pressure is when the systolic blood pressure, that top number, is less than 120, and the diastolic blood pressure, the bottom number, is less than 80.

Elevated Blood Pressure

When your systolic blood pressure is between 120 and 129, and that diastolic blood pressure is still less than 80, you don't have hypertension. But we do call that elevated blood pressure.

Stages of Hypertension

Stage 1 Hypertension
You need to watch out if your systolic blood pressure is between 130 and 139, or if your diastolic blood pressure is between 80 and 89. By definition, you have stage 1 hypertension.

Stage 2 Hypertension

If the systolic blood pressure is 140 or greater or if the diastolic blood pressure is 90 or greater, you have stage two hypertension.

Hypertensive Crisis

If the systolic blood pressure is 180 or greater, and/or if the diastolic blood pressure is 120 or greater, you need to contact your medical doctor as soon as possible as this may be a sign of a hypertensive emergency, where urgent treatment is necessary to lower your blood pressure and avoid life-threatening issues such as a heart attack, stroke or brain hemorrhage.

Please be sure to check out my YouTube videos on hypertension after you finish reading this article.

Causes and Risks of High Blood Pressure

Here are some causes and risk factors of high blood pressure that I encounter very frequently in my patients whom I manage:

• Living with obesity
• Having diabetes
• A high salt diet
• Sedentary lifestyle (you know, being a couch potato)
• Certain medications like prednisone or steroids
• Certain conditions, like having high cortisol levels
• Hyperaldosteronism
• A diet that's high in ultra-processed foods
• Renal artery stenosis
• Stress

Chronic stress and hypertension often go hand in hand because we know that stress can cause high blood pressure and that hbp can cause multiple medical problems. It's very important that you monitor your blood pressure regularly at home. 

I can't tell you how many times I've had patients come to see me, and I ask them, "What does your blood pressure normally run?"  And they have no idea. And these are the same patients whom I'm treating for hypertension. That's an issue.

You don't want to wait to see your doctor once a year or every six months to find out what's going on with your blood pressure numbers. You can check it yourself at home. You can certainly visit your local pharmacy or visit your local fire department. I actually recommend that you invest in your own blood pressure monitor. Here's a BP cuff and monitor that I find to be very useful.

Now, if you're doing ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) at home, this does a couple of things. Some people get high blood pressure when they go to the doctor because they're simply stressed out. They experience white coat hypertension, often leading to unnecessary medication, but their blood pressure may be normal when they're relaxed at home.  If you check your blood pressure at home, in a relaxed setting where you're not stressed, you and your doctors will get a clearer picture of your BP numbers.

The Science Behind Stress and Blood Pressure

So now let's talk about the science behind stress and how it causes blood pressure elevation. Yes, there's a science behind it. When you're stressed, whether it's from road rage, arguing with your kids, fighting, or going through breakups and makeups, any stressful situation can affect your heart health.

When you have stress, this causes the stress hormones to rise in your body, like cortisol and adrenaline. When your stress hormones are on the rise, it causes your blood vessels to tighten or constrict. And what happens when you have tightened blood vessels? It increases the pressure on those walls.

So when you are stressed, it causes blood pressure to rise. Now imagine if you have stressful events multiple times in the day. Well, this can mean that you have elevated blood pressure multiple times a day, which can cause damage to your brain, heart, kidneys, and other organs. Yeah, it's a problem. So you definitely want to manage stress.

Have you ever experienced a stressful event and noticed that it correlated with a spike in your blood pressure? Please comment down below.

Tips for Managing and Reducing Stress

So now for the most important part of this conversation, yes, we know that stress can cause high blood pressure, and that rise in blood pressure can cause multiple medical problems, including strokes, heart attacks, kidney failure, you name it. But what can you do about it? Here are some tips for managing your stress that I share with my patients, and I use these tips myself.

Control What You Can Control

Let's be honest, one thing to do to manage your stress is to control what you can control. Sometimes things get really overwhelming, especially if you're in an intense political climate or if you have changes that are happening in your life, and you really can't directly control them.

If your kids are away at college or learning to drive, and you worry every time they leave because you want to be there guiding them, whether it's turning left or reminding them about stoplights, all of these concerns can really stress you out.

If you're dealing with aging parents, financial strain, or even the rising cost of essentials like eggs, these situations can be incredibly stressful. However, you have to step back and control what you can control. While you can't directly influence egg prices, you can adjust your overall spending or make choices that ease the stress of grocery shopping.

You cannot be in the car with your child every time your child is driving, but you can reinforce and nag if you have to. All of the rules of driving. And you know, once you do that, you leave it on the table. Control what you can control.

You cannot always control exactly what's going on in politics, but you can control the person you vote for. You can control your messaging and how you try to influence your community.  Control what you can control. And for the rest of it, you have to leave it be.

Try To Have A Positive Outlook

Another way to control stress is to try to have a positive outlook. Now, I know that's a lot easier said than done for many people, especially if you're not naturally an optimistic, or a 'happy-go-lucky person'.  But honestly, if you take the time to look at the glass as being half full, then it really is a nice little mental game or a trick that can decrease your stress levels.

Don't ruminate and think about negative things over and over again. If someone has an attitude, don't think "woe is me, or they don't like me," because half the time, when people have attitudes with you, it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with the other person having a bad day or probably struggling with something in their life that's causing them to lash out.  Try to be positive, and honestly, it's a game that works, and it can help decrease your stress.

Allow Extra Time To Get There

Now, in your everyday life, let's talk about road rage. That's a big one, okay? It's a big one. Leave the house and try to get to places early. If your goal is to get somewhere 15 minutes earlier, even 30 minutes earlier, then you're less likely to be as angry at that person who's driving like a three-toed sloth on the highway. And trust me, if you're sitting up here NOT honking at people and cursing, it will decrease your stress. It will allow your blood vessels to dilate, and it will help with your blood pressure.

Slow, Deep Breathing

Another thing that can help in reducing stress, slow, deep breathing. Doing box breathing or alternate nostril breathing. When you do slow, deep breathing exercises, it slows down your heart rate, dilates your blood vessels, and decreases your stress.

Be sure to watch my video on the top 10 exercises to lower your blood pressure the natural way, because guess what? Those exercises, in many cases, can also reduce your stress naturally.

Exercise

Another great way to reduce stress is exercise. Yes, you knew this was coming up. You want to exercise, release those endorphins, release that happiness.

Socialize

Socializing in group settings can reduce your stress. Keep up good relationships, connect with friends and family, and take breaks from work and daily pressures. Get out, dance, have fun, chat, and enjoy some healthy food. Try to avoid the ultra-processed foods, and spend time with friends and loved ones who uplift you, as this can help reduce stress.

Don't Be Afraid to Get Professional Help

Sometimes it might take some professional help. Reaching out to a mental health provider, a counselor, a psychologist, heck, even a psychiatrist, to work through different things that are stressing you out. That's really a great tip for decreasing your stress as well.

What stress management techniques have you found to be most effective? Please share in the comments down below.

Conclusion

So there you have it. Now I hope you have a better understanding of the science behind how stress can cause hypertension, and you have some tips for how to manage high blood pressure.

If you found this article to be helpful and informative, please be sure to share it with the people you care about. I hope that you find ways to manage your stress, and trust me, I'm over here trying to find ways to manage mine.