Learn to spare your body the repercussions of rage
Your teeth clench and your shoulders tense.
Something dangerous and damaging could possibly be happening in your body
… and sometimes anger might even be deadly.
If you let anger fester or overwhelm you, it could take you down.
Fight or flight fury isn’t nearly as necessary as often as we experience it.
Our daily commute, Internet commentary, and the political news have a tendency to raise our ire as quickly and as hotly as the truly big things in our lives.
Save yourself and your anger. Create a calmer space.
Don’t lose your health to unmanaged, explosive anger or suppressed, internalized upset.
To begin getting a handle on things, you’ll need to be informed about the physical risks of unchecked anger. Learn and remember the following signs of unhealthy emotional expression and take the necessary measures to turn things around:
1. Headaches. From headaches born of tension to the debilitating throbbing of recurrent migraines, the pain in your brain is telling you something.
Calm down. Breathe.
There is scientific evidence to support that certain areas of the brain behave in ways that actually alter your brain chemistry when you’re angry. This is fine periodically, but the flood of stress chemicals through your brain on a regular basis is probably not.
2. Digestive trouble. Angry people produce stress hormones that spill into the gut and stay there long after the “fight” response has faded away. The neurotransmitters located in the gut reflect contentious feelings. Issues like irritable bowel syndrome, persistent sour stomach, and nausea may become fixtures if anger is a way of life.
3. Sleep Disturbance. When anger is eating away at you, rest doesn’t come easy. You may be filled with so much nervous energy and racing thoughts that you can’t relax or stay asleep all night. If anger continues unchecked, a lack of sleep can wear you down, leading to immunological, psychological, and relational problems.
4. Immune Disruption. If you spend a great deal of time getting angry, being angry, or suppressing anger, your body may react to the accompanying stress hormones by shutting down your immune system. The body may have a hard time recovering from the repeated stress placed upon it by ongoing, unabated anger.
5. High blood pressure. Unresolved conflict has been shown to lead to stress-induced blood pressure problems. Automatic, extreme anger responses can actually do damage to blood vessel linings as stress hormones are repeatedly rushed through them.
6. Heart attack. Those who are always on the edge of a tantrum produce a lot wear and tear on their hearts. A wealth of studies during the last two decades reveal that the combination of stress hormones, a lack of calming, helper brain chemicals, and physical tension create a hostile environment for the heart. Put in that position too often, you could triple your chance of having a heart attack.
7. Stroke. Anger inspires a shift in breathing patterns. Often you’ll breathe harder and faster. Some medical evidence indicates that this can create a disturbance in the way your brain receives and utilizes oxygen, which could increase your risk of stroke.
Anger is normal.
But it do you want it to be a habit or lifestyle?
Finding ways to be emotionally aware and calm yourself is vital to your best health.
Don’t risk it any longer. Get help from a counselor or support group.
They can help you manage your anger and maintain a healthier and happier you for years to come.
by CounselingWise on March 28, 2015