November 18, 2003 – Exposed anger is less damaging to health than repressed and restrained anger, if we are to believe the findings of an American study1.
Thus, over a period of five years, those who choose to silence their anger would be twice as likely as others to die. However, expressing it and giving it free rein would have no impact on the risk of mortality.
This conclusion stems from the Religious Orders Study, in which more than 1,000 members of American religious communities have participated in recent years. In 2002, the same study found that intellectually active people seem to reduce their risk of suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
This time around, the researchers looked at the records of 164 participants who died within a five-year period. They were particularly interested in questionnaires completed by these participants and which made it possible to measure the intensity of their negative feelings and the way in which these feelings were managed. They found that the 10% of participants who expressed their anger the least were twice as likely to die as the 10% of participants at the other end of the scale.
The exact link between emotional management and health remains elusive. However, over the years, various studies have suggested that suppressing anger could have a negative impact on cardiovascular health, the immune system, and brain hormones.
Jean-Benoit Legault – PasseportSanté.net
According to Discovery Health News; November 14, 2003.
1. Wilson RS, Bienias JL, Mendes de Leon CF, Evans DA, Bennett DA. Negative affect and mortality in older persons.Am J Epidemiol 2003 Nov 1; 158 (9): 827-35.