How to manage anger

Anger can be a normal, healthy emotion that helps us respond to a threatening situation. But it can also get out of control, and uncontrolled anger — sudden, intense fury — can actually provoke a heart attack or stroke. Here's how to manage it.

• In fact, the risk of having a heart attack increases between nine and 14 times in the two hours after an angry episode.
• The effect of anger was apparent in research involving more than a thousand people with implanted defibrillators — devices that automatically deliver a shock to the heart to control sudden, dangerous disturbances to heart rhythm.
• The researchers discovered that shocks were often needed following episodes of anger. An episode of moderate anger increased the risk of heart-rhythm abnormalities four-fold in the subsequent 30 minutes.
• Two hours later, people who got very angry had a risk ten times higher than that of people who remained calm.

• However you deal with it, intense anger is detrimental to health. Letting it out and holding it in can both do harm to your cardiovascular system.
• A study that tracked 1,055 medical students for 36 years found that, by the age of 55, the men who showed the most anger were six times more likely to have had a heart attack and three times more likely to have developed any form of cardiovascular disease such as a stroke.
• In another study involving 200 women, those who regularly displayed hostile attitudes, held in their anger and were more negative and self-conscious had a significantly higher risk of atherosclerosis in the carotid arteries supplying the brain 10 years later.

• First, figure out your pet peeves. What is it that really drives you crazy? Think in advance about how you might react differently next time.
• Recognize the warning signs of anger — rising irritation and a faster pulse or breathing rate, for example — and react to them by taking a break while you get things in perspective.
• Take deep breaths and give yourself a vital few seconds to release tension and avoid an impending explosion.
• Regular exercise and relaxation will make you less prone to angry outbursts and more able to brush aside the little things that used to bother you.
• If you have a serious problem with anger, think about taking an anger-management course — it could improve your life, or even save it.

• Relaxation techniques such as meditation are effective antidotes to stress, anger and unhappiness.
• There is no need to take a whole hour out of your day for a relaxation regime — a mere 15 minutes of quiet time will help you to unwind.