Psychological aspects of high and low blood pressure

Psychological aspects of high and low blood pressure 1 Risk of disease often rises for subjects who lie at either end of the distribution of a physiological parameter. Blood pressure may be such a variable. In addition to the undoubted risk of serious physical disease, various psychological characteristics have been associated with hypertension. Only recently has the other end of the continuum been explored. Remarkably, the same symptoms once thought to be associated with high blood pressure, i.e. headaches, dizziness, tiredness, anxiety and depression are now being linked with low blood pressure. This review explores the evolution of these themes and attempts to explain the recent interest in hypotension.