Mental health professionals have long debated the relationship between anger and health. An article published in Medical News Today, March 10, 2009, “Those Who Harbor Anger And Hostility At Greater Risk Of Heart Disease, Especially Men,” examines this issue. The article reports on a study in the March 17, 2009, issue of the Journal of the College of Cardiology.The researchers “…….extensively reviewed the literature on the longitudinal associations of anger and hostility with CHD events, and identified 25 studies of initially healthy populations and 18 studies of patients with CHD.” The results of the review were concerning. “…..Anger and hostility were found to predict a 19 percent and 24 percent increase in CHD events among initially healthy people and those with pre-existing CHD, respectively….The harmful association of anger and hostility with CHD events in healthy people was greater in men than women…..suggesting that the accumulation of stress responses in daily life might have a greater impact on future CHD in men." There are several important implications of this study. First, psychological states in men do indeed affect their physical and cardiac health. Second, parents of angry male adolescents and young adults should help their children learn better coping strategies to deal with the stresses of life. Third, mental health professionals who treat angry males should educate them about the impact of anger on the cardiac health and should try to help them learn better coping strategies. Fourth, public health professionals should continue their efforts at educating the male public about the relationship between anger and cardiac health. The researchers conclude, “……This review provides further evidence that psychological factors do matter in the development and progression of CHD….Clinicians should take symptoms of anger and hostility seriously, and may consider referring their patient for behavioral intervention. We need to closely monitor and study these personality traits in order to do a better job at identifying high-risk patients who are more liable to future fatal and non-fatal coronary events."
Reference: The original article
Additional Sources of Information:
Great Informational Websites Created by Dr. Speller and Dr. Korkosz:
- Stress and the Human Brain
- Early Life Stress and the Immune System
- The Facts About Major Depressive Disorder
- The Parent's Guide to Understanding Adolescent Depression
Sources: See blogposts in Psychiatric Disorders: General
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Dr. Jeffrey Speller Dr. Tanya Korkosz
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