A new study linking anger to heart problems spurred our short-tempered writer to try out some calming tips recommended by experts. In a fit of fury, I have been known to smash glasses, punch pillows and kick trees. When my son was young, and I was grinding along on three hours of broken sleep, I would sometimes find myself filled with a rage so strong I felt that I could pull down barn doors with my fingernails and set light to curtains with just my eyes.
As a result, I have often wondered if anger is a bigger issue for me than others. Things are better now I’m out of the post-partum haze but when I argue, I can still do so with an electric thrill of fury. When things go wrong, I will still swear and snap instead of feeling scared or upset.
I still shout at the radio. All of this, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association , makes me more susceptible to heart problems than other people. The study took 280 healthy adult participants and asked them to recall relevant personal memories that would evoke either anger or anxiety over a period of eight minutes.
Another group was asked to read descriptions that would evoke sadness. While in the emotionally neutral category, they were simply asked to count to 100 over and over again for eight minutes. By comparing blood pressure tests, researchers concluded that “provoked anger is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease events”.
This was because the flow of blood to he.