Every time you get angry, you poison your own system
-Alfred Montapert
They say that youth is wasted on the
young. I’m 35- years- old, so depending on the crowd I’m
in I still consider myself to be pretty young. One of
the traits of the young and strong is that they rarely
think about their health. That is why they can drink to
excess, take up arms in the sexual revolution, sky dive,
bungee jump and never think, “Hey this may kill me!”
Don’t get me wrong I like a little adventure and I try
to keep in shape, I work out and try to eat right, but
that is just so I can continue to see my shoes below my
stomach. The truth is, I don’t really think about my
mortality very much. Heart Disease, Cancer and chronic
pain are not things that stay on my mind.
The reality of life is everything you do today will
determine how you live tomorrow. This is true when it
comes to anger and what it can do to your body. I am not
a doctor and I honestly can’t stand the sight of blood.
If my wife cuts her finger washing dishes you will find
me running and screaming like a little girl in terror
into the other room. Medical terminology puts me to
sleep and I don’t know an artery from an adrenal gland.
But I have to admit and you probably do too that there
is a direct link between our emotions and our bodies.
Just think about it. What happens when we are sad? We
cry. What happens when we are nervous? We sweat. Our
emotions can cause actual physical changes from
headaches and tight muscles to ulcers and acne. Our
emotions are even responsible for the stimulation and
activation of our reproductive systems.
Anger is an emotion than can wreak havoc on our
physical bodies. According to
Dr. Don Colbert, the author of “Deadly Emotions”,
anger and hostility can cause an individual to release
the hormones adrenaline and norepinephrine into their
blood stream. Norepinephine, try saying that, 3 times
fast. Norepinephine, norepinephine, norepinephine, oh
well lets move on. Both hormones raise blood pressure,
increase the heart rate and elevate the cholesterol
level in the body. Breathing may become shallow, sweat
may form on your brow, and you may see a vein pop out of
your forehead. If these conditions continue over an
expanded periods of time an individual could be at risk
of heart attack or stroke.
We also find that the sudden rush of adrenaline into
the blood stream can cause the body to perform
extraordinary acts of strength. That reminds me of
another television series. Do you remember the original
Incredible Hulk, starring Bill Bixby and Lou
Ferrigno? Whenever I watch poor, skinny Bill Bixby try
to lift the burning car off of his dying wife I sadly
ask myself, “ How come his adrenaline doesn’t kick in
now?” In fact, it was experimenting with adrenaline and
radiation that got him in trouble. It was that
adrenaline/radiation cocktail that turned him into an
out of control raging green hulk. Adrenaline has the
same affect on us too. No, it won’t turn you green, but
it may cause you to exhibit some fairly dangerous
behavior.
Roger, a former client of mine seemed to be a really
nice guy. He smiled a lot, had a decent job and appeared
to be overall pretty pleasant. As he recounted the story
of how he was ordered into my
anger management class
it was apparent that a rush of adrenaline
ignited by anger and fear was responsible for his
otherwise out of character behavior.
Roger was on vacation in Lake Havasu, California. At
45, he just wanted to enjoy a nice quiet weekend on the
Lake with his family. As he docked his boat that day he
was a little tired and a lot sunburned. Roger noticed
his nephew, a persistent hothead, in an argument with
another vacationer. As the argument escalated into a
physical altercation, Roger rushed to the aid of his
nephew in an attempt to break up the fight. He suddenly
found himself in the fight. In self-defense, Roger
landed a right hook on the jaw of his nephew’s opponent.
Roger witnessed him falling to the ground and noticed a
hurried blur running towards him from behind. Without
thinking, Roger through up his hands and backslapped the
approaching individual. When Roger was able to calm down
and turn around he discovered that he had struck the
victim’s girlfriend smack in the mouth. She lay about
thirty feet from the spot where she was hit. A quiet
vacation on the lake had quickly turned into a night in
jail and a charge of assault against a woman.
The physical and psychological affects of anger can
propel even the most docile individuals into an
aggressive attack. It is too late to take and
anger management class when you are provoked. You
must understand yourself and how you react to various
triggers in life before a confrontation arises.
www.daybreakservices.com
Shannon Munford
Daybreak Counseling Service
