I think power and money corrupts people. Plenty of people who started out as honest business people turn into monsters. As you move up the ladder, less and less people are honest with you. Some are climbing the ladder because they are unhappy and that definitely makes things worse, they think money or power will make them feel better, when actually I’ve found living with less and doing things yourself is ultimately more satisfying.
Anecdotally, I personally felt how wealth corrupted me - when my economy car was totaled and my insurance rental gave me a Mercedes because they were out of reasonable models . After a week of driving it I started feeling like I was better than other people on the road. Luckily I got a replacement crappy hatchback and became a normal person again.
I got pretty bad high blood pressure, but only diastolic was high, from long Covid and I had similar symptoms. It took forever to figure it out because apparently nurses sometimes assume if only diastolic is high that you were moving your arm or something.
Do you get blurry vision and headaches? I figured out it was from inflammation in my arteries, and antinflamatories for a week actually ended my long COVID symptoms. I’m now back to working out and full energy after 2 and a half years.