It can be agreed upon that anxiety is not a cause of long-term hypertension, although they do share a common ground of relationship. While stress-released hormones do play a part in causing hypertension, it is mostly due to the change in lifestyle habits that stress can often cause.

When in stress, a person is more probable to adopt unhealthy eating habits. They might increase the intake of saturated fats and total fats in their diet, as well as sodium. Obesity is a recognized cause of hypertension, and sodium can trigger spikes of high blood pressure. Increased sugar intake coupled with diabetes can also cause hypertension. Often, during stress, a person adopts detrimental habits like smoking and drinking, both of which are causes of hypertension.

Other than this, stress and anxiety result in increased levels of adrenaline secretion. Among the many changes this hormone causes to our organs, one of them is increasing heart rate. This is done to pump blood faster and prepare our muscles for a 'fight or flight' situation.

Unlike the changes in lifestyle habits, which are long-term, adrenaline levels return to normal after a short time. However an increase in the frequency of these hypertension-inducing situations can easily lead to long-term results of hypertension.