Blood pressure is the pressure exerted by blood on the walls of blood vessels. Its measurement is based on the excess pressure in the fluid (blood) in the circulatory system compared to atmospheric pressure. Arterial pressure is one of the most vital biomarkers of body function. Depending on the indicators, hypertension and hypotension are distinguished.
Hypertension (hypertensive disease or arterial hypertension) is a pathology of the cardiovascular system, characterized by persistent high blood pressure above 140/90 mm Hg. In medicine, primary, essential hypertension is separated from secondary, symptomatic hypertension, which accounts for 5-10% of cases of hypertension and serves as a symptom of other diseases.
Primary hypertension, on the other hand, is an independent chronic disease, where high blood pressure is a consequence of an imbalance in the body’s regulatory system. This imbalance manifests as an increase in the volume of minute heart output and resistance of the peripheral vascular bed.
Signs of hypertension:
- blood pressure spikes,
- constant headaches,
- veils or flies before the eyes,
- ringing in the ears,
- heart pains,
- dizziness,
- increased fatigue,
- sweating,
- numbness of the extremities,
- swelling of the hands, face,
- nausea,
- tachycardia,
- shortness of breath,
- heaviness in the legs,
- bowel disorders,
- vision impairment, etc.
Among the causes of hypertension, medicine identifies impaired blood circulation through the vessels due to their structural changes with age and the formation of thrombi and atherosclerotic plaques in their cavities, abuse of salty foods, alcohol and smoking, work associated with night shifts, emergencies, severe stresses, negative emotions, intense mental and physical activity, chronic kidney diseases, thyroid gland, diabetes, genetics, etc.
Note that this ailment is more common in men and people of mature age. Hypertension is also diagnosed in children and adolescents. The signs of this ailment in children include hyperactivity, poor sleep at night, and frequent nosebleeds. The most common cause of childhood hypertension is birth trauma (dislocation, pinching an artery), oxytocin stimulation, cesarean section. Among other causes of childhood and adolescent hypertension are a sedentary lifestyle, obesity, abuse of salty foods, hormonal imbalance, puberty, alcohol consumption, smoking, etc.
Hypotension (arterial hypotension) is a syndrome of constant or periodic lowering of arterial pressure below 100/60 mm Hg. Primary, pathological hypotension, which is an independent disease, and secondary, symptomatic hypotension, which serves as a symptom of other diseases, are distinguished. Modern medical theories indicate that primary hypotension is a special form of neurosis of the vasomotor centers of the brain. It is noted that the development of this neurosis occurs as a result of stress and prolonged psychotraumatic situations, chronic fatigue, lack of sleep, and depression.
Signs of hypotension:
- pulsating headache in the occiput or crown after waking up,
- rapid pulse,
- shortness of breath,
- increased heart rate even with minor loads,
- darkening in the eyes with sharp movements,
- dizziness,
- sleepiness,
- sweating and numbness of the limbs,
- pallor,
- fainting,
- weather sensitivity,
- gastrointestinal disorders (nausea, heartburn, lack of appetite, heaviness in the stomach, constipation, etc.),
- sexual weakness in men, menstrual cycle disorders in women, etc.
Medicine identifies the following causes of the ailment: neurocirculatory dystonia (80% of cases), psycho-emotional trauma, depression, chronic fatigue, lack of sleep, endocrine disorders, injuries of internal organs, osteochondrosis of the spine, heart failure, hepatitis, cirrhosis of the liver, peptic ulcer disease, anemia, drug overdose, heredity, etc. It has been found that hypotension mainly affects women and youth.
Psychosomatics of Blood Pressure
As Dr. V. Sinelnikov asserts, blood pressure reflects the degree and nature of a person’s activity, their attitude to various events, as well as obstacles on their life path. We know that Life and events themselves are neutral, and only the human mind designates them as “bad” or “good,” reacting accordingly. If you don’t like an event, you start to get angry, resist the event and Life itself (as if it would help change the event). The body is left with no choice but to react to the inner world of the person. A. Astrogore, explaining the psychosomatics of blood pressure, compares the human body to a closed container in which feelings ferment, causing pressure to rise and fall.
It has been found that stresses and psycho-emotional overstrain negatively affect the work of the brain in regulating the tone of peripheral blood vessels. This leads to the appearance of vascular spasms and an increase in the hormone aldosterone, which causes water and sodium retention, further affecting the increase in BP. Thus, such prolonged negative emotions as guilt, fear, anger, self-suggestion, and internal conflict, etc., can lead to blood pressure spikes.
Psychologists particularly highlight the signs indicating psychosomatic high blood pressure: irritability, irritability, touchiness, apathy, rapid fatigue, chronic fatigue, intolerance to certain sounds, sleep disorders, insomnia, unprovoked aggression, deteriorating work performance, thinking activity, and memory. Interestingly, observations show that as soon as a person internally and externally calms down, freeing themselves from negative experiences, their condition improves, and blood pressure indicators return to normal.
But if a person returns to their negative emotions and lives in them for a long time, then irreversible changes begin to occur in the cardiovascular system, and the ailment can become chronic.
Psychological Causes of High Blood Pressure in Children
Note that the psychogenic nature of hypertension is particularly evident in cases of hypertensive syndrome in children and adolescents. As for hypertension on a nervous basis in children, here the connection with the negative psychological atmosphere in the family is traced. On the one hand, as we already know, small children energetically absorb their parents’ fears, finely feel their experiences, and start experiencing them themselves.
On the other hand, the same negative emotions of fear, offense, guilt, or anger are inherent in children, but they appear mainly due to negative parent-child relationships. It has been found that adolescents suffering from this ailment are characterized by the fact that they can clearly express their thoughts and defend their point of view, but they have difficulty adapting to new conditions.
Hence, they exhibit such traits as shyness, introversion, insecurity, stubbornness. They start to suppress and hide their true emotions, their pain inside, because they are afraid of misunderstanding and condemnation from others.
Metaphysical Causes of Hypertension
So, V. Sinelnikov asserts that hypertension is not a disease, but a certain reaction of a person to certain events in their life. According to the doctor, those who experience internal tension and resistance for a long time increase their blood pressure. And they are generated by various fears, distrust, unwillingness to accept a certain situation. It turns out that people suffering from hypertension are actually experiencing pressure from troubles they cannot cope with at the moment.
Sinelnikov notes that men are more often affected by hypertension because they are accustomed to suppressing their true feelings: behind their external composure often hide aggressive thoughts that exert internal pressure.
Psychologist Liz Burbo explains that the name of the ailment speaks for itself: the patient, due to their hyperemotionality, exerts strong pressure on themselves. In her opinion, a person suffering from hypertension constantly relives the same situations, which remind him of old unhealed soul traumas.
He tends to dramatize situations, and intensive mental activity makes him experience a variety of emotions. Liz Burbo also characterizes the patient as a very sensitive person who wants everyone around to be happy.
In this regard, he takes on too much weight and raises the pressure, trying to achieve this goal. The psychosomatic aspect of high blood pressure in Louise Hay is associated with old emotional problems. B. Baginsky and S. Shalila write that high blood pressure arises if a person does not implement their emotions and thoughts into actions for a long time.
In this regard, they constantly live on the brink of conflict but cannot resolve it and therefore are under constant unrelenting pressure. V. Zhikarentsev believes that the basis of hypertension is a long-standing unresolved emotional problem. O. Torsunov writes that one of the psychological causes of hypertension is internal stiffness, distrust of people around.
Among the most common causes of psychosomatic high blood pressure, psychologists highlight excessive demands on oneself and self-motivation, internal conflict, resistance to imposed behavioral models, problems in the family or at work, guilt, anxiety, fear, self-suggestion, psychological trauma, improper work and rest regime, harmful habits, certain character traits (stubbornness, irritability, touchiness, restraint, categoricity, self-criticism, and hyperresponsibility, etc.), etc.
According to another cause of the occurrence of psychosomatic hypertension, people who morally suppress those around them with the strength of their character and confidence in their righteousness suffer from high blood pressure.
Psychosomatic Causes of Hypotension
The psychosomatics of low blood pressure is explained by Louise Hay as a lack of love in childhood, defeatism, and a sense of pointlessness in any action (“nothing will work out anyway”). Lise Bourbeau writes that people who easily fall into despondency and feel defeated in advance suffer from this ailment. The psychologist asserts that the life energy of such people is very quickly depleted.
She characterizes them as people who cannot take responsibility for events in their lives, lack courage, and easily give up on their intentions. According to Lise Bourbeau, low blood pressure indicates that a person has no contact with their ability to independently create their life. Such a person listens too much to their bad thoughts and doubts and therefore believes that they are incapable of anything and that the game is lost even before it starts. The patient is not confident that they can cope with life’s difficulties, which prevents them from realizing their dreams and plans.
Dr. V. Sinelnikov believes that a drop in blood pressure to the point of fainting symbolizes a loss of life force, disbelief in oneself, one’s strengths and abilities, avoidance of conflict situations, and shirking responsibility. However, in such a case, the doctor warns, it becomes impossible to fully experience reality.
B. Baginski and S. Shalila write that hypotension is a precise indication that a person is trying to avoid conflicts and problems. They have little life force, penetrative ability, and momentum. These authors also note another possible cause of the ailment – fleeing from sexual life. Another cause of psychosomatic hypotension is that a person is unable to exert volitional influence, and their inner world demands elevation. Therefore, they physically suppress their loved ones, may shout, and then cry from impotence and malevolence. Such a person may hit a child to vent their resentment.
Paths to Healing Psychosomatic Hypertension and Hypotension
So, we tried to list the most common psychological causes related to deviations in blood pressure, both towards increase and decrease. This was done not so much for acquaintance, but for the searching reader to find their own cause. The main thing is to find the cause, which is half the cure of the ailment.
As soon as you find the cause, your mind (if you do not interfere with it) will start its work on its recognition and understanding. Next, there’s very little left to do: change your attitude towards what happens in life from negative to positive, and the habit of reacting with rejection to acceptance. Of course, there are as many paths to healing as there are people, because we are all different, not so much externally as in the content of our inner world. Hence, what works for one person may be effective for another.
Therefore, it is senseless and impossible to describe all existing paths, methods, and means of healing – they are offered in great numbers in books and on the Internet – everyone can choose according to their taste. Our task is different: to set the direction in which to go for healing – this is to work with your inner world in the indicated sequence.
Attention: healing the psychosomatic hypertensive syndrome in children occurs through the work of their parents on their inner world. Finally, let’s remind another important point (rather, a well-known truth that is somehow forgotten): every Person is born for Development in the energies of Love and Happiness. And a Person is given freedom of choice: he chooses every minute, every second, Love and Happiness or Destruction. A person’s words, deeds, thoughts, emotions carry either Good or Evil, which sooner or later return to their owner, bringing either Happiness or Destruction.
I wish you Development in Love and Happiness!
Lada
