Activation and anxiety as represented by patterns of catecholamine levels in hyper- and normotensives.

Types of hyper- and hyposympathetic plasma catecholamine response and types of pronounced epinephrine and pronounced norepinephrine response were identified within samples of hyper- and normotensive subjects each. Hypersympathetic subjects emerged as more active and well-adapted than hyposympathetic ones in both groups. Among hypertensives, subjects producing high levels of epinephrine and low levels of norepinephrine scored higher on state and trait anxiety scales than those with a reverse catecholamine pattern, while no such differences could be demonstrated between respective normotensive types.