by Dr Deepti Swamy

To commemorate World Hypertension Day on May 17th, this issue of Motivate is going to provide an overview regarding how hypertension has psychological roots especially in terms of stress. One of the most understated facts when it comes to medical issues is how much of an influence psychological factors have in terms of its cause and exacerbating the issue as well. This issue of the newsletter is dedicated to bringing about brief awareness in terms of how psychological factors can become instrumental in medical problems.

Hypertension is one of the most prevalent medical issues in India. In a research study conducted by Harvard University with data collected from all over India over 4 years, an alarming trend revealed a very high rate of prevalence of hypertension overall but more dangerously among young adults in the country. A recent study conducted by Hyderabad based company eKincare showed that this trend is especially prominent in top-tier cities in India including Chennai and Bangalore. The study shows that this is especially true of certain set of professionals as well. This points out to the amount of stress which has not been managed by these young adults which in turn has led to hypertension issues.

Through this issue it is hoped that stress management is highlighted as to how crucial it is, especially among the corporates, where it should be given more importance so that the tendency of the employees to mismanage the condition which will lead to hypertension can be controlled as well to a certain extent.