Key Takeaways
- Even short periods of anger can impair blood vessel function for up to 40 minutes, according to a new study.
- A meta-analysis suggests that arousal-increasing activities, such as yelling or running, aren’t effective at reducing anger.
- Deep breathing exercises may help slow down your heart rate and cool off during moments of anger.
Anger can make you feel heated in the moment, but also continues to affect your health even after you’ve cooled off.
This intense emotion has been associated with inflammation, digestive issues, and a higher risk of heart attacks. Even brief periods of anger can harm blood vessels for up to 40 minutes, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
The research team randomized 280 healthy adult participants into study groups to observe the effects of anger, anxiety, and sadness on blood vessel health. Anger was the only emotion found to significantly impair blood vessel function.
“If you induce anger compared to the neutral condition, you can actually impair the ability of a blood vessel to dilate,” said Daichi Shimbo, MD, a board-certified cardiologist, professor of medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and lead author of the study.
As anger sets in, your body becomes physiologically aroused and prepares to fight. Your adrenal glands pump out hormones like adrenaline and cortisol, which elevates your heart rate and blood pressure. Blood flow shifts away from non-essential systems like digestion and moves towards your muscles, priming your body for physical responses.
This increased blood flow and hormonal surge can raise your body temperature and cause you to sweat. Normally, your blood vessels expand and constrict to regulate blood flow, but this function can be impaired during bouts of anger.
Frequent anger episodes can lead to lasting damage to blood vessel function, according to Shimbo.
“Once it’s chronic and your artery is impaired, that’s the time that the cascade starts to accelerate to heart disease risk,” Shimbo said.
While it might feel good to yell, vent, or go for a run, these arousal-increasing activities are not effective ways to manage anger, according to a recent meta-analysis.
“Most people don’t really know what to do when they’re angry,” said Sophie L. Kjaervik, PhD, an aggression researcher at Virginia Commonwealth University and lead author of the meta-analysis.
Instead of venting, try activities that can decrease arousal, such as meditation, yoga, and deep breathing, to help calm yourself down.
“We find that decreasing arousal is consistently effective at decreasing anger because you’re decreasing your body’s fight mode, so that makes you less angry,” Kjaervik said.
Anger management will help reduce the frequency, intensity, and duration of the threat arousal, thereby reducing its physiological impact, according to Bernard Golden, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist and founder of Anger Management Education in Chicago.
Golden recommends trying a slow, deep breathing exercise when you need to cool off: Inhale for four seconds, exhale for six seconds, and repeat.
“This particular rate of breathing has been found to slow down the heart rate,” Golden told Verywell in an email.
Practicing relaxation exercises, self-soothing with compassionate dialog, and reflecting on the thoughts and feelings that contribute to anger can also help manage this emotion, he added.
“Our anger is a reaction to and distraction from other uncomfortable feelings such as guilt, shame, powerlessness, rejection, sadness, or feelings of inadequacy,” Golden said. “Labeling our feelings has been found to reduce our anger.”
What This Means For You
Anger is an intense emotion that can contribute to long-term health conditions. Mindfulness and meditation can help, but consider speaking with a trusted healthcare provider about specific anger management strategies that can work for you.