Anger Makes Us Sick, But It Is Possible To Avoid

Anger is one of the most powerful emotions a person can experience. It comes in many forms: resentment, hatred, intolerance, irritation, etc. What all of these have in common is discomfort and a desire to confront the other person. And believe it or not, but anger makes us sick.

It is a feeling we all experience. First, it is positive; Anger is, after all, a reaction to something we interpret as a threat. It confirms our identity, so much so that it leads us to express our needs and desires. It is also a feeling of self-defense. Sometimes we need fierce determination to confront aggression.

But we all know that anger also has a very negative side. It is negative for us as well as the people around us. It is not directly about whether we experience anger or not, but why we are angry, how intense our anger is and what the consequences will be.

This feeling can permeate us so deeply that it becomes a permanent state. This can really disrupt our lives. One of the worst parts of anger is that it triggers a chain reaction in the body. Anger makes us sick if we experience it often, both physically and emotionally.

Anger has surprising effects on the body. There are three types of reactions: physical, cognitive and behavioral. They are activated when we feel threatened and prepare to attack. Its physiological reactions are:

• Increased heart rate
• Accelerated breathing
• Peaks in blood pressure
• Tense muscles
• Levels of adrenaline, norepinephrine and cortisol skyrocket

What happens next is that our ability to process external and internal information (cognitive response) deteriorates. Finally, all of this results in behavior, including verbal or physical aggression. In other words: possible violence.

It is worth mentioning that three types of anger have been identified:

• Rapid or sudden anger when we feel attacked or trapped.
• Stable and conscious anger, which is the same as resentment; comes out in batches and lasts over time.
• Recurrent anger, which is frequently expressed and becomes part of the person’s personality.

Many studies demonstrate the harmful effects of anger on our physical health. A study from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, USA, shows that people who experience recurring anger are at higher risk for stroke.

Experts studied more than 14,000 individuals and concluded that people who spend more time angry were more vulnerable to stroke.

They also showed that the most irritable people have a more fragile immune system, and are therefore more likely to suffer from infectious diseases. They also found evidence that hormone peaks (including adrenaline) cause blood clots and weaken blood vessel walls.

John Hopkins Medical School conducted a similar study with 1,000 students under the age of 16, in order to compare the results with their medical history in the coming decades. In the end, they concluded that those who became more easily angry were three times more likely to suffer a heart attack.

Another study showed that anger increases the level of body fat as well as the sensitivity to pain to considerable degrees.

It is easy to see that anger practically poisons the body. We may not notice the physical effects immediately, but if we stay in this state for too long we WILL feel them.

It’s not necessarily bad to get angry: it’s an instinct whose primary positive or adaptable function is self-preservation. The downside of anger is when we let all this energy express itself without control. The real problem arises when we do not control it.

In addition to not dealing with all this, there is also a negative way to do it. That is, to suppress your anger completely. In that case, you will be a pressure cooker, ready to explode at any time.

When we feel angry, the best thing we can do is to voluntarily move away from the situation. Counting to ten helps, or sometimes 15-20. Take a step aside for a moment and take a few deep breaths. When you feel calm again, you can speak clearly without getting excited about what made you angry.

In these situations, it is ultimately important to try to identify underlying factors that may have nothing to do with the current situation, but that make you angry.