Do stress and anxiety cause high blood pressure?

Stress and anxiety make your heart beat harder and push up your blood pressure at least in the short term due to the release of the hormone narrowing your blood vessels. But there is little real medical evidence to show that anxiety or stress cause permanent high blood pressure. If you have chronic anxiety and have persistently raised blood pressure as a result some damage may be done to your arteries but it would be rare for anyone to live in a constant state of anxiety or stress. You are not stressed or anxious when asleep for example.

So why is stress so closely linked to high blood pressure in the media and popular medical press?

It may be because stressful or anxiety producing situations can temporarily raise your blood pressure and if you already have high blood pressure then that can be dangerous.