Anger and Your Health
by: George Tannous, PhD
Become a Certified Life Coach
Important: Before you study this lesson please watch this video, “Why?“. Example: If you or your client are in a relationship and the other person displayed an attitude of not being “Truthful”, you’ll need to master, and you’ll need to educate your client the following: “Confront and Level!”, “Assertive Communications!”, as well as “I Feel Good, PST!”.
Make sure to answer the questions at the end and follow the instructions for submission!
Are you someone who easily slips into a borderline rage? Are you frequently consumed by your anger? Do you experience uncontrollable fury or are you easily upset over petty issues? Do small incidents make your blood boil? Then this article is for you.
One of the most challenging and difficult things to manage emotions is anger.
It’s pretty common to get upset when someone cuts you off on the freeway; when the clerk at the store does not pay attention to you because he is texting on his cell phone; when your friends get together without inviting you; when your boss micromanages every aspect of your work, when your (fill in the blanks here). But these episodes pass quickly, and people usually forget about these small events soon. But when they start piling up inside, they give birth to anger.
Some people prefer keeping their anger bottled up inside. They burn in silence for days, weeks, months, even years until one day people around them witness a seemingly out-of-the-blue outburst. Many people dump their anger on others. When they get upset, they yell, shout, and even bring physical, emotional, and mental harm to people around them. Others are just afraid of their anger. They feel that if they are experiencing this emotion, they’ve done something inappropriate. They feel something is wrong with them.
Anger, when not managed appropriately, can cause great damage. Anger, when not dealt with properly, can cloud your judgment and lead to poor choices. When people give in to their anger it can lead to temper tantrums, rage fits, and sometimes, even verbal, or physical violence. In addition to this, anger can destroy your relationships; it can have negative impacts on your personal and professional life; it can take a toll on your physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing.
In this article, we’ll discuss how mismanaged anger is detrimental to your health.
How anger affects your mental health:
When you experience anger, it triggers a series of processes and chemical reactions inside your brain. The first process commences in the amygdale with a spark, which activates the hypothalamus, which in turn signals the pituitary gland inside your brain by carrying out the discharge of a corticotropin-releasing hormone. The pituitary gland then puts the adrenal glands into active mode, which releases stress hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol, and noradrenaline.
When cortisol levels get elevated in the brain, the neurons accept too much calcium, which makes the firing of cells frequent, eventually killing them. Loss of neurons clouds your judgment and keeps you from making rational decisions. It also prevents the creation of new neurons, and the reduced activity weakens your short-term memory. It also lessens your ability to remember things. This is why people often forget about the claims and words they speak during a heated discussion or while having an intense argument.
In addition to these effects, when the levels of cortisol hormone elevate, the levels of serotonin, the hormone that makes you happy, declines. Decreased levels of serotonin can further add to your pain as well as anger and can even cause a person to slip into depression or push them into indulging in aggressive behavior.
But this is only how anger affects your mental wellbeing. There are many negative effects of anger on your physical wellbeing that can cause long-term health damage. Let’s take a look.
How anger affects your physical health:
When a person experiences anger, it’s reflected in his body language. There are some physical signs that show a person is gliding into a rage. Anger triggers your body’s fight or flight response. It puts your brain in alert mode and prepares your arms and legs for action. Your blood pressure levels, and heart rate increase as the anger episode intensifies, and the signs of anger become visible in your body language. Your face flushes, your posture becomes stiff, your muscles twitch, the amplitude of your voice increases, and your fists clench. These are some of the things that happen when a person experiences anger, but all these effects are just on the surface.
Anger takes a huge toll on your cardiovascular system. In addition to increasing your heart rate and blood pressure, it also increases arterial tension, raises the glucose level in your blood, increases the fatty acids, which ultimately leads to clogging of blood vessels that can be damaging. Damaged and clogged blood vessels are one of the primary factors that contribute to strokes and heart attacks.
Anger also takes a toll on your immune system. Anger not only effects your thyroid function but also decreases the killer cells in your body. Result? The number of cells infected by viruses increases, which adds to the risk of cancer.
In the case of your digestive system, anger decreases blood flow and takes a toll on your metabolism, which increases the risk of obesity. In addition to this, anger also affects your eyesight, increases, and intensifies headaches which can also result in migraines, decreases bone density, and increases intraocular pressure.
Anger also affects your lungs. Even if you are a non-smoker or you follow a healthy diet, anger can damage your lungs by decreasing their function and enhancing the problems related to the respiratory system.
Long story short, anger can shorten your life. A study conducted at the University of Michigan found that people who keep their anger inside have a shorter life span than people who manage their anger constructively. Yelling and shouting at people, temper tantrums and being verbally or physically violent might bring you temporary relief, but mismanaged anger causes more damage to your physical, emotional as well as mental well-being than you imagine.
The essay:
Please write an essay, up to two pages, about a past experience you got angry which led to a sudden physical health illness. Tell us in detail, who, what, when, where, why, to whom, the time, the place of what you did. The outcome! And tell us in detail how you could have changed that use from what you learned today so the outcome would have been good. Internalize this lesson. Make it become a part of you. Share your story in the Forums.
Our advice is for you to practice “Not Getting Angry” for at least a week. Tell others around you to point out any time in which you didn’t. Have them hold you accountable. Visit the Forum and do a “CONFESSION.”
What is a Confession? A Confession is when you’ve displayed a wrong behavior and were held accountable by one of your family members, peers, or even yourself. Visit the Forum and tell us about it. We will give you feedback! Make sure to watch the video about Confession for more details! Furthermore, become a member of the Forum and give feedback to others!
Read the article? Time for introspection!
- Do small incidents take a toll on your day? Why do you think it happens?
- How has mismanaged anger affected your personal and professional life?
- Do you feel mentally and emotionally exhausted when you experience anger?
- How has anger affected your physical health?
- Now that you know some of the negative effects of anger, what steps are you planning to take to manage it better?
Sources:
https://www.nicabm.com/how-anger-affects-the-brain-and-body-infographic/
https://www.everydayhealth.com/news/ways-anger-ruining-your-health/
This module includes the following:
- Introduction
- Why Become a Life Coach
- My Hot Spots
- What Triggers Your Anger
- Anger and Your Health
- Anger Management
- Anger Be Gone
- My Anger Plan
- Strategies for Controlling Anger
- Attitude Check & Confession
- Confront and Level
- I Feel Good, PST™
- Why?
There is no way any relationship will survive without having the qualities mentioned above.
Make sure to read each article carefully at least three time. Print your workbook (will be available per lesson.) Answer all questions and enter them in your workbook. Once you have completed this entire journey, you will be issued a Life Coach Certificate so long as you’ve been a member of the “Forums.”
Also, follow the instruction for sharing your story in our Forums as well as participating in our “Forums,” especially our unique “Confessions Forum” so you may gain practice, knowledge, experience, and expertise!
I am thankful that you have given me this opportunity to share all of this with you. May God bless you and bring prosperity and peace into your life.
Respectfully yours,
George Tannous, PhD
This is Where Confessions, Attitude Checks, Accountability, Give and Receive Feedback Comes in. Practice for Your Own Practice!
Well, you might be asking yourself “How am I going to get practice for my practice?” Great question and I thought you’ll never ask!
#1 You are part of a group with the same interests.
#2 You have a question in regards to one of your clients and we are here to help you.
#3 Others have questions and you can give feedback and help them.
#4 You need to do a confession.
#5 And much more.
You Are Never Alone! Join the Forums!
Once you have completed this entire journey, you will be issued a Life Coach Certificate. Must participate in our Forums to get certified! You’ll achieve your internship by joining and partcipating in our “Forums”.