Posted by A recent study investigated the impact of high blood pressure on neurotic behavior that is linked with the onset of anxiety and other mood disorders.
When it comes to better health, several parameters determine your overall well-being. One of these elements includes high blood pressure. High blood pressure or hypertension is a common health problem that affects a huge part of the population. High blood pressure also acts as an important risk factor for a variety of health conditions, as revealed by a renowned heart physician from Healthwire during a webinar on heart health.
High Blood Pressure and Neurotic Behaviors – What Study Says?
A recent study investigated the impact of high blood pressure on neurotic behavior in people. Neuroticism is a personality trait and people having it are more prone to developing problems like anxiety and mood disorders. This recent study was also a continuation of many previous studies done to figure out the relationship between physical and mental health.
Before we talk about this, let’s understand blood pressure components first:
Understanding Blood Pressure
Blood pressure is the force that blood applies on the walls of blood vessels when blood passes through them. There are two main components of high blood pressure known as systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure. Systolic pressure is the measurement of pressure when your heart is contracting. In contrast to this, diastolic pressure is the pressure when your heart is in a relaxed state.
In a recent study, the relationship between blood pressure and neuroticism was determined. Neuroticism is not a mental condition itself but increases the risk of anxiety and other mood-related disorders in people.
“Neuroticism covers many different parts of a personality, and it does not necessarily encompass one thing. Those with higher scores of neuroticism are likely to be more sensitive to their emotions or situations, worry a disproportionate amount about a situation, and have high rates of anxiety. While some people may view neuroticism as negative, it is neither good nor bad. Neuroticism has many adaptive qualities and can be of great use to someone. It is viewed with a negative perception, but this is not accurate.” said a renowned psychologist talking about neurotic personality type.
The study was published in General Psychiatry and was done to reveal the impact of diastolic blood pressure on neuroticism. The researcher wanted to find a casual relationship between the components of blood pressure and psychological states. The four components of blood pressure included:
- Systolic blood pressure
- Diastolic blood pressure
- Pulse rate
- Hypertension
The relationship between these components was studied against four psychological states known anxiety, depression, neuroticism, and subjective well-being). This research utilized a technique called Mendelian randomization. This method studies genes and their variants to find out the specific factors behind a particular result. Among all the parameters studied in the result, most of the relationships were not significant. The only significant relationship was found between diastolic blood pressure and neuroticism.
These results were termed as a genetic causal effect of diastolic blood pressure on neuroticism. These findings lead to the suggestion that proper management of blood pressure can increase neuroticism and neuroticism-induced disorders. This relationship between high blood pressure and mental health opened new gateways to the development of strategies towards better mental health by controlling physical health parameters.
Tips to Control High Blood Pressure
After knowing about the importance of blood pressure control, let us know more about the strategies that can help us to overcome blood pressure fluctuations. These include:
- Try to control your body weight especially if you have a history of high blood pressure in your family
- Try to workout more often as it increases the strength of your heart muscles and limits your chances of suffering from heart conditions
- Consume healthy diets and reduce the consumption of unhealthy fats
- Don’t compromise on your sleep hygiene as this can serve as an important cause behind your struggle with high blood pressure
- Consume a lot of healthy fiber in your diet
- Give up bad habits such as smoking
- Overcome your stress levels if you want to keep your heart healthy.
Other than this, sometimes home remedies can also be your solution to high blood pressure. Further, based on your condition, sometimes your physician can prescribe you certain medications to overcome high blood pressure.