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Often in a bad mood? Your anger may increase your risk for heart disease and stroke.
Life doesn’t always run smoothly, and we all feel anxious and angry at times – that’s just the way it is. For example, it’s quite normal to feel anxious before a job interview or after an argument with your partner, or to lose your cool when a car pushes in front of you in rush-hour traffic. But when your anxiety or anger spins out of control, or becomes a habit, you’re in trouble.
According to a recent study by Harvard University, published in 2014 in the European Heart Journal, your risk for a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular problems increases drastically during the two hours after an anger outburst.
However, the Harvard study – and other experts – makes a clear distinction between the risk associated with a single attack of rage and the risk in people who regularly experience anger episodes.
Don’t read too much into it if emotional outbursts aren’t part of the way you normally react, agrees Dr Ebrahim Chohan, a clinical psychologist. “Anger and aggression are unfortunately very common ways in which we react to stress and challenges,” he says. “It’s a problem, however, when it becomes a regular reaction to stress and anxiety.”
Dr Suzette Fourie, a cardiologist, adds that even a single anger outburst can lead to an elevated risk of heart attack if you regularly experience periods of anxiety, if you’re a diabetic, or if you have underlying heart problems.
She further distinguishes between people who experience moderate amounts of anger and respond appropriately, and those who experience extreme rage explosions, or suppress their anger for long periods of time. “People who are generally angry and aggressive – even if they have no history of heart problems – are 19% more likely to develop heart disease than people who tend to be calmer.”
Anger and the stress response
Unfortunately, anger, fear and aggression have a very direct impact on the heart. During episodes of anger and fear, the body secretes increased amounts of the stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisone, which has a physical effect on your heart and arteries. “Your heartbeat increases, your blood pressure rises, your breathing becomes shallower and the adrenals secrete extra hormones. Basically, the heart and the rest of the body are under stress,” says Fourie.
Physically it boils down to the body’s “fight or flight” response, explains Anton Böhmer, a clinical psychologist. “Your body prepares itself for imminent danger. However, in our modern environment, the dangers we face don’t involve attacks by wild animals, but rather insecurity about our work, marriage or future.”
During therapy, Böhmer teaches his patients about the effects of anger on the body and how they can take control of their emotions in order to make logical rather than emotional choices. “Fear, aggression and depression are all things that can seem overwhelming, but you need to learn to say to yourself that these bad experiences are temporary problems that you don’t need to face for the rest of your life.”
Böhmer emphasises that all of us get angry, scared and aggressive at times: it’s just part of being human. “But what you do need to guard against is getting caught up in these negative emotions,” he says. “You need to make a clear distinction between yourself and the irritation or anxiety. The problem doesn’t lie with you as a person, but with your aggressive behaviour. Sometimes people have so much remorse and self-reproach about their actions that they literally fight with themselves.”
Emotions like anger and anxiety can be addressed on different levels, and the solution or therapy depends on their origin. “Anxiety can be linked to a specific fear (for example a phobia for spiders or flying in an aeroplane), but some people suffer from a general anxiety disorder. This means that they’re generally anxious about a wide variety of things, including their future, their work or themselves,” says Böhmer.
Sometimes there’s also a direct external influence – for example, alcohol. “Such people can for instance be entirely calm and peaceful during the week, but over weekends, when there’s alcohol involved, they become aggressive. The problem is therefore not just the anger, but also the alcohol because that’s how the anger becomes activated.” If you find it difficult to make good choices under the influence of alcohol and drugs, it’s better to avoid these situations.
The effect of your anger on other people
“We see daily examples of underlying frustration that boil over into anger explosions in the form of road rage, family violence, bullying behaviour and an intolerance of social diversity,” says Rob Taylor, a life coach from Durban.
“Anger and aggression are not only emotions, but also acquired behaviour, serving as a defence mechanism against things we experience as threats from other people and our environment,” Taylor explains. “When anger becomes a permanent part of a person’s behavioural pattern – and shouting and screaming becomes their ‘normal’ way of communicating with other people – it can lead to physical and mental stress, not only for the person themselves, but also for other people in their immediate environment.”
All of us are part of a structure, be it your family or your workplace. “The aggressive person often gets good results at work, but we also know that such behaviour eventually becomes destructive,” says Taylor.
The modern workplace has changed immensely over the past few decades – from the time when you were supposed to leave your personal life at home to nowadays where there is greater focus on the individual in the workplace.
“The priority in the modern workplace is on cooperation and team work,” says Taylor. “Constant frustration, underlying anger and the habitual use of scolding language just isn’t part of the definition of a good leader anymore
Do you struggle with negative emotions and anger at work? Taylor suggests that you review yourself as a person and the way you function among other people.
“Get involved with an organisation that falls entirely outside your field of reference, like an Aids-hospice, an NGO or even the bazaar committee of your local church – any place where you can function in a completely different environment and have different kinds of conversations. When we gain a better understanding of ourselves, it becomes easier to identify the things that lead to anger and anxiety.
How could I better handle stress and anger?
• Look at your lifestyle: eat healthy foods, drink moderate amounts of alcohol, get enough exercise en socialise with people who have a positive effect on you.
• Find an activity that will help you to relax.
• Get enough good quality sleep.
• Learn to distinguish between logical and emotional choices. And then make the logical decision.
• Create a predictable pattern for your daily tasks with enough breaks in between.
• Don’t take on more work than you can handle.
• Give yourself enough time to meet your deadlines.
• Keep a diary where you write down your daily emotions – and regularly reflect on what you’ve written.
• Do regular relaxation exercises.
• Avoid conflict situations or substances like alcohol and drugs if it has a negative effect on your ability to make good decisions.
• Get professional help from a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist if your anger and anxiety can be linked directly to a specific fear or anxiety disorder.
- (Nicola Davies-Laubscher)
