Hypertension is a physical and mental disease, and effective psychological intervention for patients with hypertension is an important means to prevent the occurrence of hypertension.
How does mood affect high blood pressure?
Anxiety, depression, fear, and emotional agitation are all important factors that affect the occurrence, development, treatment, and prognosis of hypertension.
Long-term repeated excessive tension and mental stimulation can cause the process of excitation and inhibition of the cerebral cortex to be out of balance, the subcortical vascular motor center to lose balance, the sympathetic nerve activity to increase, the adrenal medulla secretion to increase, the vascular resistance to increase, and the blood pressure to increase.
For example: irritable temperament, easy to lose temper, strong energy and excessive hostility, high efficiency, sense of competition, sense of urgency, easy to get angry, etc., these excessive emotional changes will cause excessive changes in the qi and blood in the viscera, once these changes exceed the limit that the mind can regulate, that is, the physiological state will be changed to a pathological state and the onset of the disease. Keeping an open mind and having a correct attitude towards life can reduce abnormal psycho-physiological reactions and avoid an increase in blood pressure. Therefore, psychological care is very important in the prevention and treatment of hypertension.
Learn to self-relax training
Relaxation training is a psychological treatment method that consciously controls one's psychophysiological activities and corrects the disorders of body functions. Patients with high blood pressure can learn relaxation training by themselves, 1~2 times a day, 15~20 minutes each time, and long-term persistence will have obvious results.
(1) Breathing and relaxation:
To learn to breathe in the abdomen, the specific operation method is: pay attention to exhale first, feel enough space in the lungs, and then take a deep breath later. Inhale through your nostrils, feel your abdomen bulging, your chest full, count 1-2-3-4-5 in your mind, and exhale slowly and controllably.
In order to fully maintain the depth and rhythm of your breathing, you can mentally count 1-2-3-4-5 during inhalation and exhalation. It is important to note that when you inhale, you let air into your abdomen and feel that your abdomen is slowly bulging, while your chest is only slightly bulging when your abdomen is raised.
Adequate breathing and relaxation training can fully meet the oxygen capacity of the body's needs, innovate and improve metabolism, so that the body can rejuvenate energy, feel happy, and not be prone to fatigue. It can also improve the body's unfavorable acid-base environment and prevent tumors.
(2) Progressive Relaxation:
Sit in your most comfortable position, maximizing relaxation and maintaining inner peace. Clench your right fist tighter and tighter, thinking about tension in the process. Continue to clench your right fist, and then, feel the right fist, right forearm, and right upper arm tense in turn, keep the tension, and then start to relax.
The fingers of your right hand begin to relax, and you will feel more relaxed as you experience the difference between before and after. Switch to your left hand again and repeat 1 time. Generally do 10 cycles.
(3) Meditation and relaxation:
Sit cross-legged with your hands in a "smart hand" (the thumb covers the tip of your index finger and the other three fingers are stretched out relaxed) above your knees. Be sure to dress comfortably, too.
Close your eyes, first try abdominal breathing, feel your deep "one breath and one breath", let yourself soften down, then do the training to relax the muscles of the whole body, imagine relaxing from the top of your head, then stretch your eyebrows, relax your cheeks, slightly raise the corners of your mouth, give yourself a smile, and then gradually move down on both sides of your neck, shoulders, upper arms, legs, and feet, and relax in turn, feeling that you are slowly becoming lighter like a feather, and your heart is becoming softer and softer. At the same time, we should clear our delusions, eliminate distracting thoughts, and let ourselves go of all tensions, worries, and sorrows......
It should be emphasized that the first few relaxation exercises will not make the muscles enter a state of deep relaxation quickly, and it will take many repeated exercises to have an effect.
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Please use the prescription under the guidance of a physician.
The author of this article is Liu Huiyan
Editor: Chaoyang