Anger is a necessary emotion that shows us that a boundary is being violated and that we need to act. However, it can also be expressed as a feeling of competition towards another person or a situation that creates a feeling of injustice.
At moderate levels, anger is not a problem.
However, when anger outbursts are frequent, larger than one incident, and long-lasting, to the point that they interfere with your functioning, they can have a full-scale impact on your life, affecting your well-being and well-being.
This is because during an outburst of anger, the adrenal glands flood the body with stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. It is no coincidence that at those times you may experience an increased heart rate and high blood pressure. The body prepares to “defend” and “protect” you.
In the long term, chronic activation of stress can increase the risk for both physical and mental illness. So, be sure to manage your anger because it can affect you negatively in the following ways:
1. Anger hurts the heart
The stress hormones released when we are angry can, over time, damage the heart and raise blood pressure.
In the long term, high blood pressure can increase your risk of heart disease, heart attack, stroke, and metabolic syndrome.
An additional study reports that anger appears to be associated with a higher risk of death from coronary heart disease and complications, and it also appears to affect people with arrhythmias.
This may be because adrenaline increases when we are angry, and in the long run it can disrupt normal heart function.
2. It increases the risk of heart attacks
The findings also show that anger appears to be linked to a higher risk of heart attacks.
In a systematic review of studies totaling nearly four thousand participants from more than fifty medical centers in the United States, researchers found a more than two-fold increase in heart attacks within two hours of an angry outburst, and the more intense the anger, the worse they appeared to be. it’s the things.
3. Anger makes digestion difficult
It is now proven that the brain and the gut are in constant communication and influence each other.
In particular, one of the roles of our autonomic nervous system, which regulates involuntary bodily processes, is to regulate digestion.
This function is disrupted when the body goes into fight mode in response to the stress caused by anger.
Probably, you yourself have experienced unpleasant gastrointestinal symptoms during a difficult period of your life, such as abdominal pain, stomach disorders and diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, gastroesophageal reflux, etc.
4. It takes a toll on mental health
When you’re angry, you definitely don’t feel good psychologically. Based on studies, anger appears to be often elevated in emotional disorders such as anxiety disorder and depression.
If, in fact, anger is intense and long-lasting, it can negatively affect concentration and the way we think.
5. It disturbs sleep
Anger can also negatively affect sleep.
According to a study of middle-aged Korean men and women, moderate to high levels of anger appeared to be associated with a 40% to 70% increased risk of developing sleep disorders.
This is because anger is related to stress. After all, any disturbance and psychological stimulation can spoil sleep.
So make sure you don’t suppress your anger because it is a sign that you should have acted.
But learning to manage your anger outbursts and reduce them—even if you need to see a mental health professional—is essential to protecting your overall well-being.
