Notable Quotable: Anger

“Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”  — Mark Twain

I love this quote by Mark Twain. It’s a grand and vivid description of anger. It’s no secret that anger is bad for you. One bout of anger can literally destroy a life-long relationship, that’s how toxic it is. It is also bad for your body. Taken directly from The Health Site:

Anger is bad for your heart:                                                                             Numerous studies have shown that anger can actually up your risk of suffering a heart attack. A Harvard Medical School study found that the angriest men were three times likelier to suffer from a heart or blood vessel disease than those who are of a calmer disposition. Studies have also shown that extreme emotion or anger increased stroke risk in susceptible individuals 14 times!

Anger makes your blood boil:
While most scientists are still trying to figure out exactly how anger raises your blood pressure it has been seen that anger and hostility activates the evolutionarily innate ‘fight or flight response’ in most humans which leads to increased adrenaline and cortisol which pumps your heart rate. This in turn leads to increased blood pressure and the problem is compounded by blood vessels constricting.

Anger can seriously impair your judgement:
One of the major problems when you’re angry is that your cognitive skills get impaired and your mental health gets affected. It makes the consequences look insignificant and you can actually process less information. It makes you more prejudiced about others and hinders your analytical skills. This often leads you doing things that you wouldn’t in normal circumstances and will cause you to regret your actions when you look back.
Anger can actually give you headache:
When you’re angry, stress causes your neck and scalp muscles to tense up which causes a tight band-like sensation around the head which causes a tension headache.
Anger can make you seriously depressed:
It’s still not clear whether anger causes depression or vice-versa but those suffering from depression tend to display bouts of anger from time to time. It also leads to all the aforementioned physiological conditions which can only aggravate the chances of getting depressed. Anger also leads to insomnia and stress, things that are likelier to make you depressed.

So if you happen to tend toward anger, try to get a hold on it. Controlling your anger can only increase your well-being, and help you achieve happiness.