Anger management: Don't bottle up your anger!

Zee Media Bureau/Udita Madan

​New Delhi: The American Psychological Association defines anger as an emotion characterized by antagonism toward someone or something you feel has deliberately done you wrong.

Anger or wrath is an intense emotional response. It involves a strong uncomfortable and emotional response to a perceived provocation.

Some have a learned tendency to react to anger through retaliation. Others have the tendency to bottle their anger up inside.

It's a common perception that controlling your anger is better than spewing out bitter words which you might regret later, often resulting in crumbling relationships.

However, controlling anger can also lead to health problems later in life. This is because, anger is a very strong emotion and can greatly affect your physical wellness in ways you don’t even realize.

Many of us suppress our anger in order to escape the after-effects of venting it out. But bottling up this emotion can actually cause greater problems.

Apart from heart problems, anger can become the cause of numerous other problems. Take a look!

1. Headache:

Holding in anger is the biggest cause of headaches. According to studies, repressed anger, even more than depression or anxiety, was more likely to cause headaches.

2. Digestive problems:

Anger can affect every part of the digestive system. When you are angry, it activates the "flight or fight" response in your central nervous system. Your digestion can shut down because your central nervous system shuts down blood flow, affects the contractions of your digestive muscles, and decreases secretions needed for digestion.

3. Sleepless nights:

Anger can rob you off your peace of mind night after night, making you feel like it’s impossible to “let go” and leave it behind for the night. Repressed anger can make you restless and keep you wide awake after a stressful day.

4. Aggravates anxiety:

Anger is a powerful emotion that intensifies anxiety and compromises therapy leading to serious health consequences. Suppressing your anger can worsen the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), a condition that affects millions of people.

5. Depression:

Anger, related with depression can be a reaction to the perceived hopelessness of a situation or even frustration over recurring states of depression. If you are facing a problem that doesn’t offer any effective solutions, holding the anger within yourself can make you angry and obsessively grieve over it, causing depression. 

6. Increase blood pressure:

Studies have indicated that angry people have higher blood pressure and increased risk of heart disease.

7. Skin problems:

Prolonged anger can harm your body's skin. People, who bottle up their anger, often have skin diseases such as rashes, hives, warts, eczema and acne.

8. Heart diseases:

There is a strong risk that the anger plays a role in heart diseases. In fact, a 2002 large study published in the journal Circulation stated that angriest people faced roughly twice the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) and almost three times the risk of heart attack compared to subjects with the lowest levels of anger.

So, it's always better to resolve the issues that tend to get you angry.