Recent studies show that angry people have a five times greater chance of dying before age 50 than their cool headed counterparts. Anger elevates blood pressure, increases threat of stroke, heart disease, cancer, depression and anxiety disorders. To make matters worse, angry people tend to seek relief from the ill-moods through other health-endangering habits, such as smoking and drinking, or through compulsive behaviour such as workaholism.
What seems to be more harmful is the persistent simmering form of anger than the quick short-lasting bursts. The normal experience of overt anger lasts only a few minutes, but the prolonged forms, such as resentment, impatience, irritability and grouchiness can go on for hours and days at a time. They stimulate secretion of stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which wreck havoc to health.
Anger depresses the immune system. According to a study from Ohio State University, those who had less control over their anger tended to heal more slowly from wounds. Researchers gave blisters to 98 participants and found that, after 8 days, those who had less control over their anger also tended to be slower healers. These participants also had more cortisol in their system during the blistering procedure, suggesting that they may be more stressed by difficult situations as well.
We observe commonly that angry dissatisfied patients do not respond well to treatment and seem to be more vulnerable to complications and delayed recovery. I recall how a fuming bureaucrat, who had to wait for 10 minutes in the OPD while I was examining another patient, broke into an asthmatic attack. My suggesting that he cooled down for his own sake made him even angrier, necessitating hospitalization for severe breathlessness!
If anger has survived over the ages and been passed down the generations, it must have had its survival benefit. We all know that angry customers often get their way with clerks and managers, angry teachers drive their students to complete their assignments, angry bosses get their employees to deliver results on time, and angry children get their parents to be more yielding.
In our present times, anger has however become an outdated tool. Its potential to achieve small temporary gains is hugely offset by its habit forming nature and harmful effects on health. The automatic answering machine does not respond more quickly to an angry customer or the slow internet to an angry browser.
It is time you changed your mind to change your heart. Start by noting down at the end of each day the times and settings when you were angry, and reflect on how you could have dealt with the situation cool-headedly and better. Anger will soon beat a hasty retreat from your life when you see how silly it makes you behave.
As published in HT City( Hindustan Times) dated 18 September, 2011.
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