Mike Bass: Bengals’ weekly drama can be a test of your heart, blood pressure

I never know where a Twitter exchange will go. I like that.

I started a string last week on World Mental Health Day, after the Bengals had lost to Baltimore, and someone bravely and candidly took it to heart.

@SportsFanCoach1 (me): “Players wisely are focusing more on mental health. What about your mental and emotional health as a Bengals fan? What affects you? What helps you?”

@Deacon_44: We shouldn't let sports mess with our mental health.”

@SportsFanCoach1: “Absolutely true, @Deacon_44. Sometimes it is a matter of degrees. We all feel the stress of a game or pain of a loss. But if it becomes unhealthy, if we cannot let it go, if we act inappropriately, we can seek better ways to cope and still be passionate fans.”

@Deacon_44: “Agreed ... it sucks, i have high blood pressure so i usually feel horrible during some games.”

@SportsFanCoach1: “High blood pressure can be a huge concern. What do you do when you start feeling horrible to lower your BP?”

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@Deacon_44: “Get some quiet time ... thats the best thing during the game. Just to relax myself.”

@SportsFanCoach1: “Relaxing yourself with some quiet time sounds like a great prescription for you. The term you hear a lot these days is ‘self care,’ and you know how to do it. Well done!”

@Deacon_44: “Thanks bro, its still a work in progress though ... thinking about looking into meditation.”

@SportsFanCoach1: “Meditation is a great idea. There are some pretty cool mindfulness exercises, too.”

Your thoughts and emotions can affect your physical health.

If you see the Bengals with the ball and view the moment as crucial, your heart rate and blood pressure can rise, your fight-or-flight hormones can kick in, and your body can feel the stress.

Some of you are excited to see what the Bengals will do.

Some of you might worry about what this is doing to you.

* * * * *

When the Bengals play, stress seems inevitable. Especially this season. Lose two. Win two. Lose one. Win one.

No blowout wins. Three big early deficits, three late rallies, three last-play losses. Then, finally, a late comeback victory Sunday over the New Orleans Saints to go 3-3.

On our weekly day-after-game Twitter session Monday, I asked how you are handling these dramatic finishes.

You might find this energizing.

@Jcjdnut: “Knowing you have a chance of a dramatic finish for the win is an awesome rush.”

@TonyDaTiger96: “Mike, for me thats what keeps me going to all the games. We want the long pass the breakout run the anticipation of two teams battling it out. In those crucial moments the prayers start, adrenaline starts pumping & its game on.”

@Flixking: “I love it! Had enough years knowing we had no chance to win certain games. Now i feel like we are never out of it.”

Or not.

@Debbie93msj: “Bad on the nerves.”

@JHDuncanII: “I’m an absolute mess.”

@Lukesteinman23: “Every week knocks another 2 years off of my life.”

@Jared_thacker: “I was so drained after watching the game that I couldn’t finish hitting a bucket of golf balls.”

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You might want better than this.

@Zsturgeon1985: “Can we just blow a team out for once?”

You might have expected better than this.

@Kingpin_Dre7K: “THEY SHOULD BE UNDEFEATED!”

You might try to adapt to this.

@LegitBenDavis: “My expectations are lower now than the begining of the year. Still a good team, not as good as I thought though.”

You might try to accept this.

@WhoDeyMalik: “Another day at the office. Whenever this team is good this is how it goes. We just need to finish the job.”

@Anayaoz1: “Being a Bengals fan implies accepting that each game will be dramatic, sometimes unnecesarily, until the team learns to solve the basics on the board.”

You might try to understand this.

@BrianCinBengals: “It’s stressful, but I think a lot of it is growing into the team they are this year after a magical last year. That’s important, because they’re the hunted now and last year’s formula has been molecularly scouted and studied by opponents so they had to evolve, warts and all.”

You might try to appreciate this.

@Der_skib: “They’re slowly killing me week by week, but in all seriousness, i think its good practice for post season where it seems like situational/crunch time football is so important.”

You might try to find other ways to cope.

@WhyNotUs_Cincy: “The final Saints drive prompted my anxiety to start cleaning anything in the vicinity so theoretically this could be a win-win situation.”

You might find that humor helps.

@OutoftheParkcom: “Xanax and Crown Apple bills are getting expensive.”

@Stumbelina: “I’m happy about it but my heart may have a different opinion.”

@Daboomskis: “My blood pressure and heart rate have been significantly higher since Week 17 last year against the Chiefs.”

Or not.

@WillPermenter1: “Blood pressure raises way to high tbh its horrible watching these close games.”

* * * * *

Want a better idea of how much the stress of the game can affect your heart?

The Montreal Heart Institute monitored 20 Canadiens hockey fans during games for a study published in 2017. For fans watching from home, the median heart rate rose 75 percent – akin to mild physical stress. For fans at the games, the heart rate MORE THAN DOUBLED, rising 110 percent – akin to vigorous physical stress. Most spikes came in overtime or on scoring chances (for or against).

You can relate to that, Bengals fans.

A study of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany showed cardiovascular (heart/blood vessel) events rose among Germans when their team played.

A study showed heart-related deaths in Los Angeles increased after a tough Rams loss in the 1980 Super Bowl . . . but the overall death rate fell after the then-L.A. Raiders easily won the 1984 Super Bowl.

Another study showed heart-related deaths in Massachusetts rose after the New England Patriots dramatically lost the 2008 Super Bowl . . . but heart-related death rates fell in Pittsburgh after the Steelers dramatically won the 2009 Super Bowl.

“When there is an emotional attachment, there can be emotional stress, and emotional stress is one of the triggers of cardiovascular events,” USC professor of medicine Robert Kloner, who helped conduct both Super Bowl studies, told American Heart News in 2018.

Are you worried? Should you be?

Other factors can play into this, and your health status is a big one, added David Waters, professor emeritus of medicine at the University of California in San Francisco.

Experts can debate the merits of individual studies, but not the potential dangers of stress for some of us. If you have health issues, if you are susceptible to cardiovascular problems, if you are not in good physical condition, if stress is hurting you, listen to your physician and your body. Eat better, sleep better, hydrate better, exercise more, watch your weight, take your meds – even meditate.

Bengaldom is not an automatic gateway to a heart attack.

“Life in general is stressful,” Waters said in the 2018 article. “There’s good stress and bad stress and if you avoided everything in life that could give you a heart attack, you’d have a very boring life.”

* * * * *

I circled back with @Deacon_44 on Monday.

@SportsFanCoach1: “As I was starting to write this week's column, I kept thinking of you, @Deacon_44, and wanted to see how you handled yet another dramatic finish Sunday.”

@Deacon_44: “Whats up mike thank you for asking. I actually did great !! I did a breathing exercise for 20 min and was good the whole game. I also backed off watching anything bengals related after Tuesday.”

@SportsFanCoach1: “Great plan, and great execution, Deacon! You have given me inspiration for this week's column, so don't be surprised to see your tweets in there. Keep up the great work!”

@Deacon_44 (with a Thank You/Gracias gif): “Glad i could help!!!”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Bengals' on-field trials, tribulations test fans | Mike Bass