A wise man I know likes to say that one’s circumstance should not dictate their emotional state. In other words, life is difficult for all of us, but the truly wise don’t let their moods dictate how they act.

There are some people that seem predisposed to be happy. I admire these people. For the great majority of us, though, happiness is like a muscle – it has to be worked on to remain strong.

But just as there are many cheery predispositions, they’re countered by the perpetually perturbed.

Have you come across these people? The slightest thing sets them off. What a way to live? And how great must it be for those who have to live with them! Yikes!

But according to a study conducted by Yale University cardiologists, the perpetually perturbed may not be living for long, not if they don’t get a handle on their emotions, anyway. That’s because anger seems to be tied to heart arrhythmias, the kind that can be potentially life-threatening.

To study anger’s impact on the heart, Yale University cardiologists looked at people with pre-existing heart conditions. All 62 of the participants had defibrillators previously implanted in their chest due to complications from heart disease. What they found was that when these participants recalled an event in their past that made them angry, memories of that angry event actually spurred their heart rate to beat abnormally; in other words, the electrical changes in their heart rate were predictive of an irregular heart beat.

Irregular heartbeats, or arrhythmias, are very serious conditions. Depending on its severity, heart arrhythmias occasionally need defibrillators to correct the heart when it beats out of rhythm. The defibrillator sends an electric pulse to the heart to do that.

Based on the results of the study, anger can actually induce the heart to beat irregularly, leading to the need for the implanted defibrillator to administer a potentially life-saving shock to the heart. And it’s in these people – those who showed the highest electrical activity in their EKG readings after recalling an angry event – that are most at risk. One can only imagine what kind of electrical activity is going on in their hearts when in the midst of an argument, rather than merely recalling an event where one felt angry.

Now, several things need to be said before drawing any broad-based conclusions. Firstly, this is a very small study (62 people in all). Secondly, the findings linking anger to heart issues were based on those who already have a heart condition; the researchers can’t be sure if the same applies to healthy hearts.

From my standpoint, though, I think it’s pretty safe to conclude that being quick to anger does little good for the heart. We’ve all had angry episodes. We sweat, our teeth clench, our voices rise and our hearts race. But the uptick in our heart rates is not the good kind that we get from physical exercise; it’s the bad kind that distress causes, where it can actually alter the way the heart beat beats.

It’s not easy, but if you’re someone who’s quick to anger, try your best to temper it. There’s a great book out called “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…and It’s All Small Stuff.” Keep this pearl of wisdom in mind for your emotional, mental and physical health (not to mention social).

Sources:
ABC News