Gender aspect of stress-induced hypertension

About the author:

Alla G. Naymushina, Dr. Med. Sci., Professor, Department of Theory and Technique
of Vocational Training, Tyumen State Oil and Gas University

Abstract:

The main gender differences in the development of stress-induced arterial hypertension are associated with the patient’s attitude to health. Women tend to have a special psychological reaction associated with denial of the disease — “minimalization”, which is accompanied by changes in their eating disorders and obesity. Approximately 70% of men knew about the disease and occasionally underwent treatment, although the diagnosis of arterial hypertension was registered for the first time. Paradoxical behavior was identified in 14% of men: denial of the disease accompanied by a stable career development and aggressive hypochondria facing challenging life circumstances. Such patients insisted on immediate hospitalization and long-term outpatient treatment, five men joined a disability group within a year. The first message about diagnosed hypertension caused an expressed affective reaction in 16% of men. Psychological characteristics which define the behavior of men and women with arterial hypertension are associated with self-identification as a highly masculine type: focus on personal achievements and career, aggressiveness, ability to defend their point of view, dominance, realism and pragmatism, cynicism, low sensitivity to pain and ailments, and as a consequence — denial of the disease. At the same time, orientation of the society towards traditional patriarchal values creates among women an unconscious feeling of “inferior femininity”, aggravating their intrapersonal conflict, which means that for their psychological adaptation women have to pay a higher “biosocial price”.

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