There are people who have stress at so many points in their daily life, and then there are those who deal with a stressful episode and get it behind them. There is also a qualitative aspect. By this, I am referring to the people who are in a box, who can't get out of the stress, and who feel that they're trapped. That kind of stress is clearly worse. Clearly, stress increases adrenergic tone, blood pressure, and probably coronary artery tone.
Stress also affects behavior.
Stressed or depressed patients often don't comply with their medical regimen. They don't take their lipid lowering drugs, or they don't go to their cardiac rehab programs. But there are also physiologic pieces that need to be untangled, and we just don't know enough about it yet.