When Anger, Anxiety and Stress Hurt Your Heart: Don’t Wait for the Massive Heart Attack

16. September 2010 by John Schinnerer.

John Schinnerer, Ph.D.

Guide to Self, Inc. 

High-intensity, chronic anger and stress have an adverse impact on your heart and your health. More specifically, the more often you feel negative emotions, such as anger, irritation and depression, the higher your risk for hypertension and subsequent coronary heart disease.  A recent study by the American Academy of Family Physicians is creating a growing awareness that long-term, chronic anger and stress are linked to a higher risk of heart attack.

Recently, I received this comment on my anger management blog which stirred something deep inside of me…

‘John,I want to let you know that your online anger management course is very helpful to me. These tools to a better life are working. There has been a change in my outlook on life already. I AM EXCITED ABOUT DOING THIS.  I want to be a better person and have a healthier life. This past March, I had a massive heart attack and almost left this world. I have realized through your teachings that some of my health issues have to do with my anger. I really did not know that my anger was even associated with or causing me problems - problems not only with my health but in my life. I was always thinking that my anger was someone else’s fault. This past week before I got on to your website, I blew up with my wife and was as mad as I’ve ever been. I was throwing things and saying things that I should not have said. I got mad because she was mad. Thanks to you I’ve realized that anger has a negative effect on my heart. Thank you for teaching me new ways of being. Please keep up the great work.’

This note was quite flattering and also deeply moving. As I lost my grandfather to heart disease (after he survived five heart attacks), I’m pleased to be able to help men discover new tools to manage their anger.

One of the major points that I’ve been emphasizing for several years now is that chronic, long-term anger has a harmful effect on the heart. The same holds true for chronic stress. Both long-term stress and anger are harmful on a number of levels.

Anger and Coronary Heart Disease

In a 2007 study published in the American Academy of Family Physicians, researchers concluded that men and women with high levels of chronic anger and stress are much higher risk of developing coronary heart disease.  The study found that men with high levels of chronic anger and irritation were 1.7 times as likely to develop hypertension (high blood pressure). Individuals older than 50 years qualify as having hypertension if their blood pressure is regularly over 140/90 (i.e., at least 140 mmHg systolic or 90 mmHg diastolic). Individuals with chronic high levels of anger and annoyance were 90% more likely to progress from prehypertensive to coronary heart disease as compared to those with low to moderate levels of anger.

Stress and Coronary Heart Disease

Both men and women with long-standing levels of stress had nearly 1.7 times the chance of developing coronary heart disease as compared to those with low to moderate levels of stress. This means individuals with high levels of chronic stress are nearly twice as likely to develop coronary heart disease! This is entirely preventable by learning new ways of relating to stress and pressure. The authors suggest that high quality stress management and anger management programs are beneficial for preventing the progression from prehypertension to hypertension to coronary heart disease.  

Negative Emotions In General Related to Coronary Heart Disease

Three major negative emotional states – depression, anxiety and anger/hostility - were implicated in coronary heart disease in 2005 in a study published in the Psychological Bulletin.  These findings indicate that it is more of a general disposition towards negative emotions that may be more critical for the risk of heart disease than any one specific emotion.

A Predisposition to Negative Emotions

In my experience, I have frequently found an overlap between the existence of depression, anger-hostility and anxiety in many of my clients. Rarely do I work with someone who is merely angry, or solely anxious, or only depressed. More often, people have a difficult time dealing with all the major intense negative emotions (e.g. anger, sadness and anxiety/fear).

Hopefully, the word will continue to spread that a predisposition towards negative emotions (hostility, anger, anxiety and depression) harms the heart and puts individuals at a greater risk of coronary heart disease.

By learning stress management tools, anger management tools, and tools to increase the frequency of positive emotions, this risk can be reduced significantly.

If you are interested in online anger management classes, please call 925-944-3440, email Info@GuideToSelf.com or check the website at http://www.GuideToSelf.com.

For a free copy of John’s award-winning self-help book (Guide to Self: The Beginner’s Guide to Managing Emotion and Thought), just visit GuidetoSelf.com and enter your name and email for a free instant PDF copy!

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