Psychological Defense Mechanisms in Patients with Different Forms of Essential Hypertension

Abstract

Introduction

Essential hypertension (EH) is one of the most common diseases of the cardiovascular system. Today scientists discover more and more patients whose blood pressure values during work appear to be higher than those values during free time. This form of EH is called “hypertension at work”.

Objectives

To indicate psychological defense mechanisms in patients with “hypertension at work”, as compared with ‘classical’ EH and healthy individuals.

Materials and methods

Defense mechanisms were evaluated by the survey “The Life Style Index”. Eighty-five patients with ‘Hypertension at work’ (mean age was 45.9 ± 2.8) and 85 patients with ‘classical’ EH (mean age was 47.4 ± 4.5 years) took part in the study.

Results

The results showed the dominance of low level psychological defences. The most common mechanisms were denial, projection and regression. More mature defense processes included reaction formation and rationalization. The patients with ‘Hypertension at work’ significantly (P < 0.05) differs from second group by more frequent representation of displacement, denial, projection and reaction formation. Comprehensive interpretation of our findings suggested that affection of EH patients (specifically ‘Hypertension at work’) can be characterized by dominance of negative emotions and aggressive tendencies which would be projected, denied or suppressed. Such a complex of defense mechanisms is typical for those, who knows, based on own experience, that uncontrolled negative emotional reactions could be unsafe in social environment.

Conclusions

Our findings can be considered as a basis to define a “risk group” amongst EH patients by an attribute of “emotional well-being” disorder and to develop psychological recommendations for them.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.