Anger, Stress, the Heart and Breathing
"You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your
anger." -Buddha
Two studies build on earlier evidence that anger and stress produce physiological events that greatly increase the risk of heart disease and heart attack. The star of
'Network", a movie about the manipulations and deceptions of network television repeatedly performed an excellent rendition of someone who was "mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore". His wife accepted his Oscar posthumously. He had died of a heart attack. Maybe even "acting" angry can kill you.
Johns Hopkins’
researchers found quick-tempered young men had triple the risk of premature
heart disease and early heart attack. Following 1,000 medical students at
Johns Hopkins between 1948 and 1694, the follow up report on these
physicians found that 35 percent of the “angry” men had developed
cardiovascular disease with average onset at 56. The study author, Dr.
Patricia Chang, reports that anger causes a stress-related release of
hormones that constricts blood vessels, putting extra stress on the heart,
increasing the risk of heart disease and, eventually, heart attack.
At a recent American
Heart Assn. Scientific Forum, University of North Carolina researchers
demonstrated long-term anger and fatigue together form a type of stress that
greatly increases risk of heart attack. From 1990 to 1998, 12,453 men and
women were tracked. Those scoring highest on either “anger” or
“fatigue” were 42 percent more likely to have a heart attack; high
scores on both were 69 percent more likely to suffer a heart attack.
Physician's Weekly May 13, 2002
Vol. XIX, No. 20. Ritalin is NOT the answer
"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to a
better understanding of ourselves." -Carl Jung
Healthy anger is just that, healthy; A release of pent up negative emotions.
But most of anger is unhealthy because it stresses and leads to furthering
of negative actions and reactions. Unhealthy or
excessive anger often contains a significant element of what Mike calls
UDB.
Never answer an angry word; it is the second one that starts a quarrel. People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing.
Road rage can be down right deadly in a lot of ways. We have created a technique to handle road rage. It is included in our Deepest Calm program
American Psychologist has an excellent article exposing the increasing evidence found in the scientific community regarding violence in the media and violence in society while the media itself ignores, denies or plays down the blinding evidence. The relationship is a strong one. There is overwhelming evidence that violence in the media does in fact cause violence in children and violence in our society. However, due to a variety of reasons (not the least of which is economic) the news media, both tv news and news periodicals continue to deny the evidence and sway public opinion to allow it to continue unregulated. Buhmand & Anderson (2001). American Psychologist, vol 56(6/7), 477-489.
From
Mike:
I
used to facilitate anger workshops. What I learned from them is
that:
1. The emotion of anger is occasionally appropriate but most often over
rated. I've read that Jesus was capable of expressing what I would call
healthy anger. Sometimes anger can be looked upon as a luxury that there is
no time to indulge in as when a rational mind is necessary for one's
survival or even an entire country's survival.
2. Many cannot express appropriate anger or any anger at all. Often
they can't quietly or firmly just say "no" and overreact or under
react out of fear.
3. Many that learn to express anger overdo it and never learn how harmful it
is to their hearts, minds and relationships until they or their
relationships die while they are hard at it being
"right". His Needs, Her Needs, A great book by Willard
F. Harley, Jr. says a lot about that.
Mike's one sentence rule for handling anger. "For those you disagree with in
an unkind way, learn to love them, ............. then outlive them.
Recommendation:
Deepest Calm Program
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