The start of December marks not only the first day of the festive season, but also, anger awareness week.
It’s quite understandable to become a little irate in the winter months. The weather is cold, it’s often rainy, and the days are a lot shorter than they used to be. However, unlike the winter clouds, anger is something that hovers over us for the entire year. It’s like a demon that constantly convinces us to let it out even when we shouldn’t.
Now, this anger can be a useful thing from time to time, but it frequently does more harm than good. Remember, anger doesn’t just affect those around us, but it also hurts ourselves. Nobody likes feeling angry just as nobody likes people to be angry towards them. As well as this, anger affects our physical health as much as our mental.
1. It can put us at greater risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and heart attacks
2. It weakens your immune system
3. It can increase anxiety and depression
4. It can damage your lungs and airways
5. It can decrease your life expectancy
Much of this might come as a surprise, but it makes a lot of sense when you really think of it. When you get angry, your cortisol rises, and too much cortisol creates a lot of stress within the body which then acts out and damages a number of different areas within your body.