Blood pressure can be treated with medication and/or a series of relatively simple lifestyle changes, including exercise and diet.
High blood pressure can make people more neurotic, a study finds.
Neuroticism is one of the five major aspects of personality — it is characterised by heightened levels of anxiety and worry.
Treatment of this common condition, therefore, could help to reduce common neurotic tendencies, such as worry, hostility and depression — not to mention its more usual benefit of heart health.
Blood pressure can be treated with medication and/or a series of relatively simple lifestyle changes, including exercise and diet.
While the link between neuroticism and high blood pressure has already been identified, it was not clear which causes which.
The study’s authors write:
“Individuals with neuroticism can be sensitive to the criticism of others, are often self-critical, and easily develop anxiety, anger, worry, hostility, self-consciousness, and depression.
Neuroticism is viewed as a key causative factor for anxiety and mood disorders.
Individuals with neuroticism more frequently experience high mental stress, which can lead to elevated [blood pressure] and cardiovascular diseases.
Appropriate surveillance and control of blood pressure can be beneficial for the reduction of neuroticism, neuroticism-inducing mood disorders, and cardiovascular diseases.”
Diastolic blood pressure
The genetic study examined millions of samples of blood pressure and psychological states from 8 different studies including many hundreds of thousands of people.
The results showed that diastolic blood pressure caused high levels of neuroticism.
Diastolic blood pressure is the second number in the measurement and it reflects the blood pressure in your arteries when your heart rests between beats.
However, there was no link between blood pressure and depressive symptoms, anxiety or happiness.
It is not known exactly why blood pressure has this effect on personality, but clearly heart and brain are linked.
Other studies on the link between personality and blood pressure have shown that:
- Thinking positive is linked to lower blood pressure.
- People with high levels of the personality trait of neuroticism are at a greater risk of heart disease and diabetes.
→ Read on: how to spot the common signs of high blood pressure
The study was published in the journal General Psychiatry (Cai et al., 2022).
