The patient who sparked interest in this topic was a 57-year-old male hospitalized for a COPD flare-up. The patient also had a history of hypertension, pulmonary embolism, and deep vein thrombosis. The patient is a smoker as is his family. For years he had a lot of trouble trying to quit smoking. The patient also has a history of depression and anxiety. The patient has been taking many medications to control his hypertension, but it is still outside the normal range. This man was in great need of non-pharmacological intervention and training. The objective of this article will be to present a general overview of the etiology, global impact and adherence to treatment of hypertension. It will also cover non-pharmacological interventions aimed at managing hypertension. Finally, it will explore addressing the patient's psychosocial needs and how this can help treat and possibly prevent hypertension. One of the problems with essential hypertension is that it has no clear etiology. One of the articles covered in this article reviews the essential mechanisms of hypertension. The three systems that affect blood pressure that I will discuss in this article are the kidneys, the immune system, and the nervous system. The kidneys play a vital role in controlling blood pressure. They do this by controlling sodium retention and excretion, which in turn controls blood volume and therefore blood pressure. In one study, the kidneys of hypertensive rats were exchanged with other rats and it was found that the hypertension shifted to the new rat that received the hypertensive kidney (Coffman, 2011). This demonstrates the importance of the kidney in hypertensive patients. The article also revealed that a...... middle of paper ......ent of their diseases. Works Cited Coffman, T. (2011). Under pressure: the search for the essential mechanisms of hypertension. Nature magazine, 1402-1409.DeSimone, M.E., & Crowe, A. (2008). Non-pharmacological approaches in the management of hypertension. Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 189-196. Hildingh, C. (2009). The association between hypertension and reduced psychological well-being, anxiety and sleep disturbances: a population-based study. The Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 366-371. Lee, D. E., & Cooper, R. S. (2009). Recommendations for global hypertension monitoring and prevention. Current reports on hypertension, 444-449.Osamor, P. E., & Owum, B. E. (2011). Factors associated with treatment compliance in hypertension in southwestern Nigeria. Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition , 619-628.