High blood pressure may smooth out emotional high and lows, according to a study reported in the July/August issue of Psychosomatic Medicine
High blood pressure is already known to reduce sensitivity to pain.
Cynthia Pury, Ph.D., of Clemson University, recorded the blood pressure of 65 volunteers whose average age was 20 years and then showed them 32 photographs.
Half the pictures were intended to elicit a positive emotional response and half a negative response. After viewing each photograph, participants rated their reactions on scales of happy to unhappy and calm to excited.
The researchers linked a higher systolic (top number) blood pressure with more neutral and less extreme responses to the photographs. There was a similar but more modest effect for higher diastolic (bottom number) blood pressure.
Increases in blood pressure, Pury and her colleagues speculate, may help people cope with intense psychological stimulation by limiting emotional reactions. This may raise the threshold for stress reactions.
“If those with higher resting blood pressure perceive their environment as less threatening, they may stay in stressful situations for longer,” she says. “Likewise they may seek out greater levels of excitement.”
