The Harmful Health Effects of Anger

October 19, 2018
In the following article, learn about what the harmful health effects of anger can do to your body. Learn to take better care of your emotional health.

It’s never helpful to get angry with someone or with yourself. However, the effects of anger can also damage your body.

There’s a strong relationship between feelings and how the body reacts to them. In the following article, we’ll take a look at the harmful effects of anger on health.

Prevent the Effects of Anger to Live Better and Longer

Living a happy life is the best way to prevent pain, health problems and disease. It’s important to promote relaxation instead of angry outbursts, because this soon becomes reflected in your health.

Believe it or not, preventing the effects of anger is very beneficial for your overall health.

In times of anger, your muscles and joints clench, blood circulation slows, and the natural balance of your nervous, cardiovascular and hormonal systems is disturbed. Meanwhile, your blood pressure rises along with your heart rate and testosterone, your brain activity alters, and your body produces excess bile that ends up in parts of the body where it shouldn’t.

effects of anger

Naturally, these effects can be very harmful for your health. Unfortunately, the effects of anger and irritation can cause:


Believe it or not, the physical and mental stress that anger produces can trigger heart-related issues. According to one study, they may even increase your risk of a heart attack.

Liver damage

In addition, your gallbladder is at risk due to the effects of anger. Anger causes your body to secret more bile than it would be under normal conditions. Then, it expels this substance is expelled through the bladder, which in turn suffers unusual stress in times of anger.

Muscle aches

Whether you’re angry with your boss, partner, children or a long commute, your body secretes the hormone adrenaline. This is the same hormone it produces when you’re afraid.

Unfortunately, this can lead to muscle pain and spasms, along with headaches. The shoulders, neck, and back bear the brunt of this, since they’re the parts of the body that carry the most tension.

Also read:

Muscle Cramps: Learn to Treat Them at Home

effects of anger


In addition, being angry can cause what’s known as irritable bowl syndrome, which can lead to colitis or diarrhea. Stress, fear, tension and anger can all cause intestinal imbalances.


This is one of the most common consequences of anger.

The symptoms are well-known: acid reflux, pain, and a burning sensation in the stomach. Stomach acids inflame the mucus lining of your stomach when you have multiple episodes of anger, so if you get angry very often, it may not only provoke gastritis, but can also cause stomach ulcers.


Itching, rashes, and pruritus have, among other things, anger as a trigger. The same goes for bouts of tension, stress, nervousness, anxiety and fear. If you have a wound, it can become infected or more serious because of these negative emotions.

effects of anger

The Causes and Effects of Anger and Irritation on your Health

There are many different causes of anger, and it largely depends on the individual. What is certain is that the sum total of a series of problems or setbacks in life can cause us to lose control over our emotions. Anger is a reaction of the mind that allows it to affirm that it is in the right, which is why an angry person may shout, for example.

Anger can also be caused by a threat, stress, or events that occur that the individual has no control over. But suppressing anger is never good, because it can affect both psychological and physical health.

Of course, there are some people who get angry more easily, while others tend to stay calm. Nevertheless, these feelings affect not only ourselves, but also others around us.

Also read: 

Learn about the Emotional Benefits of Yoga

How to Deal with Anger the Healthy Way

The key, say psychologists, is self-control.

The rapid pace of our daily lives lets us get angry about the smallest things. We don’t give ourselves time to take a “break” to reflect. It starts to seem like the whole world is conspiring against us to unleash our wrath.

Long commutes, frustrating daily tasks, financial woes, relationship worries, and personal problems shouldn’t become reasons to be angry, however. While that may seem easier said than done, go about changing your habits slowly.

It’s important to take just ten minutes a day to reset your mind.

How? Try meditation or yoga, do breathing exercises, or simply get a cup of tea and a good book and sit down to listen to the birds outside.

effects of anger

An ideal space for relaxing is a clean and tidy room that’s filled with a reassuring scent, such as incense or an essential oil. Put on some calming music. The sounds of nature, classical music, or music used for meditation are all excellent choices. Close your eyes, breathe deeply through your nose, and let this soothe you.

In the instant that your anger is about to rise, try to recall this feeling of peace.