Can Anxiety Raise Blood Pressure?

Can Anxiety Raise Blood Pressure?

Yes, anxiety can raise blood pressure.

First, a little background.

Anxious behavior, such as worry, activates the stress response. The stress response secretes stress hormones into the bloodstream, where they travel to targeted locations to bring about specific physiological, psychological, and emotional changes that quickly prepare the body for immediate emergency action.

This survival reaction is often referred to as the fight or flight response.[1][2]

Visit the article “The Stress Response” for more information about the many body-wide changes caused by the stress response.

Some of the stress response changes include:

• Quickly converts the body’s energy reserves into “fuel” (blood sugar) to provide an instant boost of energy.
• Increases heart rate, respiration, and metabolism due to the boost in energy.
• Stimulates the nervous system, increasing nervous system activity to be more sensitive and reactive to danger.
• Shunts blood to parts of the body more vital to survival, such as the brain, arms, legs, and vital organs, and away from parts less vital for survival, such as the stomach, digestive system, and skin. It accomplishes this by constricting blood vessels in certain parts of the body and dilating them in others.
• Tightens muscles to make the body more resilient to being injured.

To name a few.

Stress responses stress the body since stress responses push the body beyond its internal balance (homeostasis). As such, anxiety stresses the body.

When stress responses are activated infrequently, the body can recover relatively quickly, such as within a few to thirty minutes or more, depending on the degree of stress response.

However, when stress responses are activated too frequently, such as from overly anxious behavior, they can cause a state of semi-stress-response readiness, which we call “Stress-Response Hyperstimulation” since stress hormones are powerful stimulants.[3][4]

Visit the article “Stress-Response Hyperstimulation” for the many ways hyperstimulation can affect the body.

Hyperstimulation can interfere with the body’s ability to recover, keeping the body in a state of semi-stress-response readiness indefinitely.

Overall, acute anxiety can acutely stress the body, whereas hyperstimulation can chronically stress the body.

Regarding blood pressure, blood pressure is the measurement of the pressure in your arteries during the active (first number) and resting phases (second number) of each heartbeat.[5][6] The number is usually read as Systolic Pressure/Diastolic Pressure. For example:

• Systolic pressure: The first number in a blood pressure reading represents the amount of pressure your heart generates when pumping blood through your arteries.

• Diastolic pressure: The second number refers to the amount of pressure in your arteries when your heart is at rest between beats.

Blood pressure readings will change at any given time and vary from person to person. These numbers aren’t static. They can vary a lot in a short time and even from one heartbeat to the next. They can also depend on the position of the body, breathing rhythm, level of exertion, level of stress, your physical condition, the medications you take, the food and drink you ingest, and even the time of day.

Blood pressure is usually lowest at night and rises quickly when waking.

Generally, 120/80 is considered normal blood pressure. But many experts believe that normal blood pressure is a range that falls between 90/60 to 130/95. Some experts believe that optimum blood pressure is 115/75.

High blood pressure is considered pressure that regularly falls above 140 Systolic and 90 Diastolic (140/90). Note the term regularly.

As mentioned, stress hormones cause blood vessels to constrict, forcing the heart to pump harder to get blood through the body. This harder pumping action increases the pressure required to move the blood sufficiently. This increased pressure raises blood pressure.

We can use the concept of squeezing a garden hose to shoot water farther to illustrate this. For instance, squeezing on the hose causes an increase in pressure in the hose that forces the water out at a higher pressure, causing the water to shoot farther.

Likewise, constricted arteries increase blood pressure.

However, it’s important to note that the body’s blood pressure changes all the time. It’s not under constant pressure. For example, it’s generally lower when resting and higher when physically active.

When resting, the heart doesn’t have to work as hard to circulate the body’s blood because resting opens up arteries, making it easier for the blood to pass through.

Physical activity tightens muscles, constricting arteries, causing the heart to pump harder to circulate blood. As a result, blood pressure increases.

So again, it’s normal for the body’s blood pressure to fluctuate. It’s supposed to. Taking your blood pressure and getting a high reading most likely means you’ve been active just before taking it. To get a more accurate reading, rest for a few minutes and take it again. You’ll likely see a reduced number.

However, high blood pressure can become a health problem when resting blood pressure consistently reads high. Doctors watch for consistent high blood pressure readings and are not concerned about erratic readings.

This is one of the reasons why some doctors ask their patients to take their blood pressure over many days and record the times and pressure readings. Average readings over many days and times will demonstrate if your blood pressure is indeed high.

Moreover, most doctors are also aware of the “white coat” syndrome: when patients are nervous seeing their doctor, their nervousness causes their blood pressure to read higher than it normally is. Most doctors take this into account. Again, they watch for consistently high blood pressure readings and not fluctuating readings.

As it relates to anxiety, as mentioned, infrequent anxiety will cause temporary increases in blood pressure that resolve as the body recovers from the active stress response.

However, hyperstimulation can keep blood pressure chronically elevated, leading to high blood pressure. As long as the body is hyperstimulated, even to a small degree, it can keep blood pressure elevated.

As the degree of hyperstimulation increases, so can the degree of high blood pressure.

So overall, while acute anxiety won’t lead to high blood pressure, chronic anxiety can.

Being concerned (worried) about high blood pressure can also keep blood pressure elevated since worry stresses the body and stress increases blood pressure.

The good news is that you can reverse all of this with regular deep relaxation, stress reduction, regular light to moderate exercise, a healthy diet, regular good sleep, not smoking, and addressing the underlying factors causing your issues with anxiety.

Dealing with your anxiety issues and reducing stress can reduce high blood pressure…in time.

If you are dealing with anxiety issues, working with an experienced anxiety disorder therapist is the most effective way to resolve issues with anxiety. The benefits of overcoming issues with anxiety can last a lifetime, including maintaining healthy blood pressure.

NOTE: Some medications used to treat anxiety and depression, such as antidepressants (SSRI’s and SNRI’s), can also cause an increase in blood pressure.

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