{"id":135880,"date":"2024-11-20T09:48:51","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T13:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=135880"},"modified":"2025-10-03T11:50:42","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T15:50:42","slug":"stress-cause-high-blood-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Stress Cause High Blood Pressure? The Surprising Answer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Is stress the leading psychological cause of hypertension? How can resolving emotions help patients with high blood pressure?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s a common belief that stress causes high blood pressure, but Samuel J. Mann doesn&#8217;t think that&#8217;s the case. In fact, he says <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/repressed-emotions-feelings\/\">repressed emotions<\/a> are the culprit at play here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read below to learn more about what Mann believes is the true psychological cause of high blood pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p><em>Editor\u2019s note: This article is part of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hub\/personal-life\/health\/mental\/stress-guide\/\">Shortform\u2019s guide to stress<\/a>. If you like what you read here, there\u2019s plenty more to check out in the guide!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-is-high-blood-pressure-a-mindbody-disorder\">Is <strong>High Blood Pressure a Mindbody Disorder<\/strong>?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/weillcornell.org\/smann\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Samuel J. Mann<\/a> teaches clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and treats patients at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nyp.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital<\/a>. He specializes in treating hypertension, and is particularly interested in the connection between repressed emotions and hypertension.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most people believe that stress causes high blood pressure. However, Mann argues that research and treatments focusing on feelings of stress have failed to support this theory; <strong>the link between stress and hypertension remains tenuous, and stress-reduction techniques don\u2019t reliably reduce blood pressure.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: There is a known connection between stress and high blood pressure, but Mann is correct that it\u2019s tenuous; the American Heart Association (AHA) says that the direct link between stress and hypertension <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart.org\/en\/health-topics\/high-blood-pressure\/changes-you-can-make-to-manage-high-blood-pressure\/managing-stress-to-control-high-blood-pressure\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">is still being studied<\/a>. However, the AHA also notes that there\u2019s a clear <em>indirect <\/em>link, because stress often leads people to do things that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart.org\/en\/health-topics\/high-blood-pressure\/know-your-risk-factors-for-high-blood-pressure#:~:text=Modifiable%20risk%20factors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">contribute to high blood pressure<\/a>. For instance, people who are feeling stressed tend to neglect their physical health, eat unhealthy foods, and overuse alcohol and other drugs.)&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In contrast to that common belief, Mann says that <strong>repressed emotions\u2014the stresses people <\/strong><strong><em>don\u2019t <\/em><\/strong><strong>feel\u2014are the real link between stress and high blood pressure.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He writes that keeping upsetting feelings at bay requires the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) to stay constantly active. The SNS controls the body\u2019s threat response, part of which is to increase heart rate and blood pressure. In the short term, this ensures that the body\u2019s muscles are well-supplied with oxygen, so they\u2019re ready to fight or to run at a moment\u2019s notice. However, if the SNS is always engaged, then the person\u2019s blood pressure is constantly elevated; in other words, they have hypertension.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Therefore,<strong> uncovering repressed emotions and helping the patient to resolve them is an effective way to treat high blood pressure;<\/strong> much more so than stress-reduction techniques like muscle relaxation and deep <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/breathing-exercises-for-beginners\/\">breathing exercises<\/a>. Alternatively, drugs that interfere with the SNS\u2019s ability to affect blood pressure also show promising results in treating this type of hypertension.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>Treating Hypertension With Cognitive Behavioral Therapy<\/strong><br><br>Recent research suggests Mann is correct that psychological therapy\u2014helping people to find and deal with the root causes of their stress\u2014is an effective way to reduce blood pressure, though it\u2019s not clear exactly how much of a role repressed emotions play in this process. For example, a 2021 study examining the results from different reports suggests that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.apa.org\/ptsd-guideline\/patients-and-families\/cognitive-behavioral\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cognitive behavioral therapy<\/a> (CBT), which is a type of talk therapy, often helps people with high blood pressure <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC8278424\/#s0090title\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">improve their health<\/a>.&nbsp;<br><br>The researchers didn\u2019t directly link CBT with lower blood pressure but noted that it helped treat many different conditions that can <em>cause <\/em>high blood pressure, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/low-mood-and-anxiety\/\">anxiety and depression<\/a>. The talk therapy also helped patients on blood pressure medications to follow their treatment plans more closely, which naturally made the drugs work more effectively.&nbsp;Interestingly, the study also found that CBT patients saw improvements in their cholesterol levels, which the researchers did <em>not <\/em>link to a secondary cause. Instead, they believe this is because CBT helps to calm the SNS, which controls the body\u2019s threat response\u2014an overactive SNS leads to high cholesterol along with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/healthy-lifestyle\/stress-management\/in-depth\/stress\/art-20046037#:~:text=When%20the%20natural%20stress%20response%20goes%20wild\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">many other harmful conditions<\/a>.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is stress the leading psychological cause of hypertension? How can resolving emotions help patients with high blood pressure? It&#8217;s a common belief that stress causes high blood pressure, but Samuel J. Mann doesn&#8217;t think that&#8217;s the case. In fact, he says repressed emotions are the culprit at play here. Read below to learn more about what Mann believes is the true psychological cause of high blood pressure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":136174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,7,9],"tags":[1669],"class_list":["post-135880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-lifestyle","category-psychology","tag-the-divided-mind","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Can Stress Cause High Blood Pressure? The Surprising Answer - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Can stress cause high blood pressure? The two have been linked for years, but some doctors disagree. Here&#039;s an alternative theory.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can Stress Cause High Blood Pressure? The Surprising Answer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Can stress cause high blood pressure? The two have been linked for years, but some doctors disagree. Here&#039;s an alternative theory.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-20T13:48:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-03T15:50:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/stress-causing-high-blood-pressure.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"962\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"540\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Katie Doll\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Katie Doll\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Katie Doll\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c3e1b539e89423b544ede91ab2bff937\"},\"headline\":\"Can Stress Cause High Blood Pressure? The Surprising Answer\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-20T13:48:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-03T15:50:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/\"},\"wordCount\":659,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/stress-causing-high-blood-pressure.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"The Divided Mind\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Health\",\"Lifestyle\",\"Psychology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/\",\"name\":\"Can Stress Cause High Blood Pressure? The Surprising Answer - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/stress-causing-high-blood-pressure.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-20T13:48:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-03T15:50:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"Can stress cause high blood pressure? The two have been linked for years, but some doctors disagree. Here's an alternative theory.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/stress-causing-high-blood-pressure.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/stress-causing-high-blood-pressure.webp\",\"width\":962,\"height\":540,\"caption\":\"Red aura coming out a stressed man's head, showing how stress causes high blood pressure\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Can Stress Cause High Blood Pressure? The Surprising Answer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c3e1b539e89423b544ede91ab2bff937\",\"name\":\"Katie Doll\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6239731a3fc739640b80be30f2b1727a055d3535d0ee4569e8282faa323e47fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6239731a3fc739640b80be30f2b1727a055d3535d0ee4569e8282faa323e47fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Katie Doll\"},\"description\":\"Somehow, Katie was able to pull off her childhood dream of creating a career around books after graduating with a degree in English and a concentration in Creative Writing. Her preferred genre of books has changed drastically over the years, from fantasy\/dystopian young-adult to moving novels and non-fiction books on the human experience. Katie especially enjoys reading and writing about all things television, good and bad.\",\"knowsAbout\":[\"Bachelor of Arts in English With a Concentration in Creative Writing\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Senior SEO Writer\",\"worksFor\":\"Shortform\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/katie\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Can Stress Cause High Blood Pressure? The Surprising Answer - Shortform Books","description":"Can stress cause high blood pressure? The two have been linked for years, but some doctors disagree. Here's an alternative theory.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Can Stress Cause High Blood Pressure? The Surprising Answer","og_description":"Can stress cause high blood pressure? The two have been linked for years, but some doctors disagree. Here's an alternative theory.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2024-11-20T13:48:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-03T15:50:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":962,"height":540,"url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/stress-causing-high-blood-pressure.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Katie Doll","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Katie Doll","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/"},"author":{"name":"Katie Doll","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c3e1b539e89423b544ede91ab2bff937"},"headline":"Can Stress Cause High Blood Pressure? The Surprising Answer","datePublished":"2024-11-20T13:48:51+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-03T15:50:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/"},"wordCount":659,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/stress-causing-high-blood-pressure.webp","keywords":["The Divided Mind"],"articleSection":["Health","Lifestyle","Psychology"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/","name":"Can Stress Cause High Blood Pressure? The Surprising Answer - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/stress-causing-high-blood-pressure.webp","datePublished":"2024-11-20T13:48:51+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-03T15:50:42+00:00","description":"Can stress cause high blood pressure? The two have been linked for years, but some doctors disagree. Here's an alternative theory.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/stress-causing-high-blood-pressure.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/stress-causing-high-blood-pressure.webp","width":962,"height":540,"caption":"Red aura coming out a stressed man's head, showing how stress causes high blood pressure"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-cause-high-blood-pressure\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Can Stress Cause High Blood Pressure? The Surprising Answer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c3e1b539e89423b544ede91ab2bff937","name":"Katie Doll","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6239731a3fc739640b80be30f2b1727a055d3535d0ee4569e8282faa323e47fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6239731a3fc739640b80be30f2b1727a055d3535d0ee4569e8282faa323e47fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Katie Doll"},"description":"Somehow, Katie was able to pull off her childhood dream of creating a career around books after graduating with a degree in English and a concentration in Creative Writing. Her preferred genre of books has changed drastically over the years, from fantasy\/dystopian young-adult to moving novels and non-fiction books on the human experience. Katie especially enjoys reading and writing about all things television, good and bad.","knowsAbout":["Bachelor of Arts in English With a Concentration in Creative Writing"],"jobTitle":"Senior SEO Writer","worksFor":"Shortform","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/katie\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/stress-causing-high-blood-pressure.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135880"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":146265,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135880\/revisions\/146265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}