Anger can make you sick: Studies link hot temper to many physical
ailments
Tracy Boyd / Detroit News Health Writer
10/26/1999
The Detroit News
Final
Page F12
(Copyright 1999)
I n the anonymity of the Internet, it's plain to see that we are a nation of angry
people.
"I have a real problem with quick, intense anger," writes a participant in an
Internet chat room. "It's often about stupid things like the subway, but it can be so
intense I can't control it and start kicking the ground or swearing out loud or
pushing people deliberately."
"Am I an angry person? YES!!!" writes another.
"I hate people," writes a third. "Even something as simple as going out for
groceries is filled with stupid people who purposely waste my time."
Yikes.
Surveys say people admit they feel more anger now than they did 10 years ago.
And that built-up anger is affecting our health : Anger has been shown to
contribute to developing heart disease, worsen existing heart conditions, increase
chances of stroke and contribute to weakening the immune system.
Like happiness or fear, anger is just one of many emotions we experience every
day. The emotion itself is normal and not problematic, says Dr. Charles
McCloskey, family practice physician and associate program director for the
family medicine residency program at St. John Oakland Hospital.
"Anger is a normal physiological response to a particular situation. It's a human
emotion that we all have, and it's very healthy if we know how to let it out,"
McCloskey says. "The problem comes in because people have a tendency to
hold that anger in instead of dealing with it, and letting it build up. That's when
people have a tendency to explode."
Chronic unexpressed or repressed anger keeps the body in an agitated state of
emergency, says Rich Higinbotham, a social worker, who specializes in anger
management both in private practice and with McAuley Outpatient Mental
Health Services in Ypsilanti. He and his colleagues are working with McAuley in
Ann Arbor to develop a cognitive therapy center to deal specifically with anxiety,
depression and anger.
"People who have chronic anger tend to have stomachaches, headaches, sweaty
palms and other physical indications," says Higinbotham.
Science is just beginning to show how significant a role anger plays in the
development of disease and other health conditions, experts say:
A 1997 University of Michigan study tracked the relationship between behavior
and the number of strokes in middle-aged men over seven years. Researcher
Susan A. Everson concluded that men who bottle up their emotions until they
spill out in violent outbursts have twice the risk of stroke as men who keep
emotions on a more even keel.
A 1998 Duke University study of healthy females aged 18-27 showed women
who express their anger in an antagonistic way, whether verbally or physically,
had higher cholesterol levels than those who expressed anger in a calmer, less
hostile way. "The difference was 10 percent, which is significant when you're
talking about cholesterol," says study author and Duke assistant professor Dr.
Edward C. Suarez.
Hostile individuals tend to drink more alcohol, drive a car more frequently after
drinking and weigh more than those with low hostility, putting those individuals at
risk for accidents, obesity and addictions, a 1991 University of Kansas study
concluded.
Similarly, a University of Texas study found that in 15- and 16- year-old girls,
secretive, repressed anger was associated with a higher percentage of body fat in
those individuals. Obese children often have multiple health problems, including
asthma, diabetes and a high risk for heart disease.
In their famous 1950s study that has been proven again and again in the last
decade, San Francisco cardiologists Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman found
that people who had heart attacks had a number of things in common, including
competitiveness, hyperaggressiveness and hostility.
In addition to putting individuals with high hostility levels at risk for developing
heart disease, anger has been shown to play a significant role in patients who have
already developed the disease.
Among people with heart disease, those who are angry are several times more
likely to have recurrent heart events (such as heart attack) and die earlier.
"It's natural to say, 'I have heart disease and, boy, I'm pretty damn mad about it,' "
says Dr. Michael Dangovian, a cardiologist at William Beaumont Hospital. "But
it's not natural or helpful to be angry about it for the next 20 years of your life."
Since 1992, Dangovian has led discussions to help patients explore their feelings
about having heart disease (or any other chronic illness) and has taught relaxation
techniques including yoga, meditation and imagery. He says as many as 60
percent of patients diagnosed with heart disease become angry or depressed, and
that not enough people realize how helpful discussion therapy can be.
"If you take a person with abnormal function, such as heart disease, and make
them feel good every day of their life, that person will be healthier than a person
with normal heart function, who is miserable all the time," Dangovian says.
Henry Kudla of Troy says Dangovian's group has been of great benefit to him.
The 73-year-old has had heart disease since 1985, when he underwent a
five-way bypass.
"I think we all get angry with ourselves when faced with a disease like that. I
asked, 'Why me?' And I bottled everything I felt up inside," he says. "But after a
couple of meetings, I felt a lot better about myself and was able to express my
feelings. Now I do deep breathing and find it's a wonderful way of relieving stress
and calming myself."
Since joining the group after an angioplasty in 1995, Kudla has not had any
recurrent heart events.
Holistic physician and author Dr. Robert Ivker even says that chronic, repressed
anger can cause and exacerbate something as mundane as sinus conditions. In
Sinus Survival: The Holistic Medical Treatment for Allergies, Asthma, Bronchitis,
Colds and Sinusitis (Tarcher/Putnam, $13.95), Ivker says identifying,
experiencing, expressing and accepting anger helped him to strengthen his immune
system, avoid the sinus inflammation that can lead to infections and ultimately cure
himself of sinus problems.
"Expressing anger is so important for experiencing optimal health ," Ivker says.
"It plays such an important role in so many diseases and conditions."
Higinbotham says that most people would benefit from some instruction in
managing anger.
"People are just not really sure what to do with this emotion," he says. "They don't
realize that inappropriately expressed anger is damaging. They also don't realize
that it is basically a bad habit that can be de-learned. It simply requires practice."
Higinbotham suggests a mini-analysis each time you find yourself angry, as well as
keeping an anger journal. Practice calm, assertive ways to express your anger.
"Looking at the person directly and telling them what you expect is a better, safer,
healthier reaction than fuming all the way home in the car and yelling at the kids
later," he says. "Anyone who is persistent and determined can learn to handle their
anger in a better way."
What happens when you see red
In generations past, the fight-or-flight response allowed our ancestors the speed
to outrun a charging wooly mammoth or the courage to stand up against
neighboring camps that threatened their homes. Though the circumstances have
changed, it's the same today: When you feel rage or fear, your body reacts
intensely.
Fear, anger or a threat causes our sympathetic nervous system to carry signals to
all parts of the body to prepare it for action. The body is spurred to release
various chemicals that trigger physical reactions in our bodies.
Initial responses may be slight or minimally detectable -- a slight headache or a
heart that beats a bit faster. If your anger progresses, you eventually reach a full
fight-or-flight response that can be difficult to talk yourself out of.
Blood is diverted from the intestines to the brain to allow optimal function. (As the
blood rushes to your brain, you may feel as if a band is constricting your head or
get a sudden headache.)
Your eyes dilate in order for you to take in more information and see threats as
they approach.
The tiny muscles near the skin's surface contract, making body hair stand on end.
As with animals, hair standing on end makes you appear bigger and more
fearsome to an enemy.
You sweat lightly, so an opponent cannot get a firm grip on you.
Your blood vessels constrict, forcing your blood pressure to rise and your heart
to beat faster, pumping blood to the brain and muscles.
The adrenal glands produce adrenaline and epinephrine, which enhance all of
these actions.
Muscle movement in the intestines slows down, as blood is diverted to the
skeletal muscles to prepare for physical action.
Your large muscles, such as in your legs, may tense in preparation for action.
What makes you angry?
How do you manage your anger? Tell us what you think. Send a letter to Health
and Fitness, The Detroit News, 615 W. Lafayette, Detroit, MI 48226. Or fax it
to (313) 222-2451, or e-mail it to health @detnews.com
Display as: