Can Stress Cause High Blood Pressure? What the NHS Says and What to Do (UK)

Can stress cause high blood pressure?

Yes, for a short time. When you feel under pressure your body releases adrenaline and cortisol. The British Heart Foundation (BHF) explains that these hormones temporarily raise your heart rate and blood pressure, ready for action. This is the fight or flight response, and it is meant to pass once the stressful moment is over.

Blood Pressure UK puts it simply: stressful situations can make your blood pressure rise, but the effect only lasts a short time. That’s why one high reading taken when you’re rushed, worried or in pain may not be your usual level.

Stress at the doctor’s: the white-coat effect

Some people’s readings are higher in a clinic than at home, often because they feel tense when it’s taken. This is called the white-coat effect. NICE asks doctors to confirm a clinic reading between 140/90 and 180/120 with home or 24-hour monitoring before diagnosing high blood pressure, partly for this reason. If you know you get nervous, say so: your nurse or GP may ask you to take readings at home.

Does stress cause high blood pressure long term?

Possibly, but the evidence is weaker than most people think. UK organisations word it differently:

• The NHS lists “feeling stressed over a long period” as one of the things that make high blood pressure more likely, alongside age, family history, salt, weight, smoking and alcohol.
• The BHF says chronic stress can affect heart health and raise blood pressure over time, but that stress alone will not cause heart and circulatory disease.
• Blood Pressure UK says there’s no evidence that stress causes long-term high blood pressure, but long-term stress can lead to unhealthy ways of coping that do raise it.

The research behind this is mostly observational. A 2017 review pooled 11 studies with 5,696 people and found that those under chronic psychosocial stress were about twice as likely to have high blood pressure. The authors said the studies measured stress in different ways and that more research is needed to confirm the link. Studies like these can show that stress and high blood pressure go together, but not that one causes the other.

Our reading: stress gives your blood pressure short spikes, and long-term stress probably adds to your risk, mainly through what it does to your sleep, drinking, eating and activity. If your blood pressure is high, stress is rarely the whole story, so it’s worth looking at the other causes too.

This matters beyond the reading itself, because high blood pressure is the biggest single risk factor for stroke. For what the large INTERSTROKE study found about stress and stroke, see can stress cause a stroke?

The habits that link stress and blood pressure

The NHS lists eating, drinking or smoking more and sleeping badly among the common signs of stress (see stress symptoms). Several of those habits raise blood pressure directly:

This is why the stress and the habits are worth tackling together. If coffee is how you get through a stressful week, see how long caffeine lasts. If wine is how you switch off, alcohol and sleep explains why it backfires.

Can anxiety cause high blood pressure?

Anxiety and panic can raise your heart rate and blood pressure for a short time, in the same way stress does. A pounding heart during a panic attack is frightening but usually passes within minutes. Having anxiety doesn’t mean you have high blood pressure, which is a reading that stays high over time.

The two can feel alike: a racing heart, a tight chest and a headache can come from anxiety, high blood pressure or something else. Don’t guess. Get a reading, and use the red flags at the top of this page. For more on telling them apart, see stress vs anxiety, anxiety chest pain and heart palpitations.

What are the symptoms of high blood pressure?

High blood pressure usually has no symptoms at all. The NHS says it can rarely cause headaches, blurred vision or chest pain. That’s why many people have it without knowing, and why a check is the only way to find out.

Feeling stressed, flushed or “wound up” isn’t a reliable sign of high blood pressure. Nor is feeling calm a sign that it’s normal. Many people only find out at a routine check. Tiredness is another common question: see does high blood pressure make you tired?

How to get your blood pressure checked in the UK

• Pharmacies: many offer a free blood pressure check if you’re 40 or over. Some charge, so ask first. The NHS website has a pharmacy finder.
• NHS Health Check: if you’re 40 to 74 and don’t already have certain long-term conditions, you should be invited every 5 years. It includes your blood pressure.
• Your GP surgery: many have a self-check machine in the waiting room.
• At home: an upper-arm monitor lets you take readings when you’re relaxed. Sit quietly for a few minutes first, then take 2 readings a minute apart.

As a rough guide, the NHS says a reading of 140/90 or higher at a clinic, or 135/85 or higher at home, is usually considered high. Our normal blood pressure chart by age explains what the numbers mean and how to take readings at home. If yours is on the low side, see low blood pressure.

How to lower stress and blood pressure together

1. Move most days. Brisk walking counts towards the 150 minutes a week, and it’s one of the quickest ways to burn off stress. See Japanese walking for an easy routine.
2. Keep alcohol within 14 units a week and have drink-free days.
3. Cut back on salt: most of it is already in bread, ready meals, takeaways and processed meat.
4. Protect your sleep. A regular bedtime and less late caffeine help. See how much sleep you need.
5. Use a breathing exercise when stress spikes. The BHF suggests breathing exercises as one way to manage stress. Try box breathing or 4-7-8 breathing.
6. Deal with the cause where you can. Talk to someone you trust. If work is the problem, see stress at work. More ideas are in how to relieve stress.
7. Ask for help. See a GP if stress feels unmanageable. In England, adults can refer themselves to NHS talking therapies.

If you’re already on blood pressure tablets, keep taking them as prescribed. Don’t stop or change them because you feel calmer or your home readings look better: talk to your GP or pharmacist first.

When to see a GP or call 999

• Call 999: chest pain that doesn’t go away or spreads to your arm, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or chest pain with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness. Also call 999 for signs of a stroke: face drooping, arm weakness or slurred speech.
• Call 111: frequent headaches or blurred vision, chest pain that comes and goes, or other symptoms that worry you.
• See your GP or a pharmacist: repeated high home readings, you’re 40 or over and haven’t been checked in 5 years, or stress is affecting your sleep, mood or daily life.

Where our products fit

No supplement treats high blood pressure, and nothing below is a substitute for a check or for prescribed medicine. Some people like a simple daily routine to mark the start or end of a busy day.

Next step

for a calm daily routine, Evopure’s Broad Spectrum CBD Capsules give one measured 10mg capsule, vegan, 0% THC and third-party lab tested (rated 4.7 from 125 reviews). Prefer a daytime oil? Flow CBD Oil is broad spectrum CBD with 35mg ashwagandha and 35mg maca per half pipette (rated 4.6 from 46 reviews); 10mg of CBD is about 0.2ml of the 500mg oil.

Add Broad Spectrum CBD Capsules 10mg to bag or choose another strength

Add Flow CBD Oil 500mg to bag or choose another strength

If you take blood pressure tablets, read CBD and blood pressure medication first and check with your GP or pharmacist before starting. Adults only. Skip Flow if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have a thyroid, liver or autoimmune condition. We don’t recommend our products during pregnancy or breastfeeding.

Subscribe and save 25% on your first order, then 20%. New to Evopure? Join our emails for 20% off a one-off first order. Free UK delivery over £40.

The FSA’s 10mg a day figure is precautionary advice rather than a legal limit, set while longer-term safety research continues. At Evopure we think it is a very cautious figure, and many adults use more. If you go above it, increase slowly, and check with your GP or pharmacist first if you take any medication.

Comparing options? See our best CBD oil for stress UK guide.