Depression, a common mental condition in the world, has been found linked to uncontrolled symptoms of hypertension in a study. The following study reveals that the patients who were depressed had poor control of their blood pressure. In addition, this study reveals that there is a significant correlation between depression and high blood pressure.
What is Depression?
Depression is known as a serious mental problem that affects a person’s ability to feel, think, and react. Feeling sad can be a difficult period in anyone’s life for a short period of time. However, the problem becomes severe when you persistently experience depression.
Depression is a quite common mood disorder that affects about 264 million people in the world. Women are at greater risk of experiencing depression than men. People are more prone to depression in their 20s. However, if you get good treatment for depression in good hospitals like Top Hospitals in Karachi, then you can easily get rid of depression within a short period of time.
The symptoms of depression are different in men than in women.
Common symptoms of depression in men are:
- Overtime working
- Lack of physical desires
- Frustration
- Anger
- Being abusive to family members
- Difficulty in completing tasks and concentrating
- Avoiding social contacts
- Spending less with family members
- Authoritative behavior
Common symptoms of depression in women are:
- Body aches
- Irritability
- Anxiety
- Fatigue
- Pessimistic approach to life
- Sudden weight gain or loss
- Body aches
- Altered sleep patterns
- Loss of interest in social activities
Usually, these symptoms vary from person to person. However, in a specific part of the world, people may experience similar symptoms of depression due to several reasons.
What Causes Depression?
People may experience depression due to different social factors. However, the most common causes of depression can be the following ones:
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Hormone Levels
Changes in female hormones such as estrogen and progesterone during different periods of life like perimenopause, menstrual cycles, menopause, and postpartum period may increase the risks of depression.
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Brain Chemistry
A chemical balance in the parts of the brain that manage thoughts, mood, appetite, mood, and behavior in people who have depression.
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Brain Structure
You are more prone to depression if the frontal lobe of the brain is less active. However, it is unknown if this happens before or after the depressive symptoms.
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Family History
There is an increased risk of depression if you have a family history of depression or other mood disorders.
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Early Childhood Trauma
Some events can badly affect the way your body reacts to stressful and fearful situations.
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Medical Problems
Several medical problems such as Parkinson’s disease, chronic illness, insomnia, stroke, cancer, and heart attack may also increase the risks of depression.
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Pain
People who experience chronic or emotional physical pain for a long period of time are at great risk of developing depressive symptoms.
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Substance Use
Personal history of alcohol or substance misuse may also increase the risk of symptoms associated with depression.
Here it is also important to shed some light on uncontrolled hypertension.
What is Uncontrolled Hypertension?
Uncontrolled hypertension or high blood pressure is known as an average diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mmHg or an average systolic blood pressure ≥140mmHg among those people with hypertension. Uncontrolled hypertension can be a dangerous condition that may even lead to heart failure, heart attack, stroke, and several other severe medical conditions. Uncontrolled high blood pressure may also damage your kidneys, affect your vision, and you may also experience memory problems.
Common symptoms associated with uncontrolled high blood pressure are:
- Chest pain or discomfort
- Shortness of breath
- Dizziness
- A feeling of something not right
- Nosebleeding
- Lightheadedness
- Severe headaches
- Visions problems such as blurry vision
Depression and Uncontrolled High Blood Pressure – What’s the Association?
Because high blood pressure and depression share a common pathway; therefore one disease has an impact on the natural history of the other. A study was conducted to determine whether depression influences blood pressure control in hypertensive people or not.
To collect the data for the following study, forty hypertensive patients undergoing antihypertensive treatment self-measured their blood pressure several times in a single day for three days. These patients also completed the depression rating scale. Associations between the results of high blood pressure and depression were determined using the spearman correlation coefficient.
This study indicated that 23 patients were depressed out of the forty, and 21 of these 23 patients had poor control of their blood pressure. The following study concluded that depression is a common symptom in people with uncontrolled high blood pressure and may also interfere with blood pressure control.
Conclusion
Depression is a common condition during this period of time. Everyone is more prone to depression due to several social factors. However, if you experience depressive symptoms, then you need to geed effective treatment as soon as possible, because if you leave depression untreated, then it may lead to uncontrolled hypertension, as the above-mentioned study found it.
