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Psychiatric Aspects of Hypertension

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

David Wheatley
Affiliation:
Head of the General Practitioner Research Group, 325 Staines Road, Twickenham, TW2 5AX
Mitchell Balter
Affiliation:
Psychopharmacology Research Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Public Health Service
Jerome Levine
Affiliation:
Psychopharmacology Research Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Public Health Service
Ronald Lipman
Affiliation:
Psychopharmacology Research Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Public Health Service
Mary Lou Bauer
Affiliation:
Psychopharmacology Research Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Public Health Service
Roland Bonato
Affiliation:
Biometrie Laboratory, George Washington University, Washington, U.S.A.

Extract

The physiological response to stress falls mainly on the cardiovascular system, adrenergic stimulation resulting in peripheral vasoconstriction and an increase in systemic blood pressure. The analogous effects that occur in anxiety-provoking situations immediately suggest an association, whether causal or effectual, between raised blood pressure and anxiety. It has also been suggested that hypertensive individuals exhibit more aggressive traits than others and that these may be hidden or suppressed, becoming manifest by abnormal elevation of the blood pressure (Smirk, 1957).

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1975 

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