Perceived Stress and Depression among Hypertensives

Pages: 242-245
Manju and Sarvdeep Kohli (Department of Psychology, M. D. University, Rohtak, Haryana)

Medical practitioners, yoga specialists, sociologists, philosophers, and most importantly, psychologists all collaborate in the realm of health. Hypertension is one of the most hazardous health conditions that may result in different chronic illnesses. Despite taking healthy diet, prescribed medication and regular exercise some people still suffer from high blood pressure which indicates role of psychological factors in the development of hypertension. Therefore, the present study was designed to explore differences in the levels of perceived stress and depression among hypertensives and healthy controls. A two group design was adopted in the present study. The sample comprised of 100 participants (50 hypertensives & 50 healthy controls) with the age range of 35-55 years. The tools used for the study were: Perceived Stress Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory-II. Data was analyzed by using t-test. Results indicated that hypertensives scored significantly higher on perceived stress and depression than healthy controls. The outcomes suggest that hypertensive individuals require greater psychological management beside medical care.