by Paul Haider

Created on: July 01, 2008   Last Updated: November 05, 2010

How to Heal Anger

Studies by Dr. Redford Williams at Duke University and Dr. Robert Sapolsky at Stanford University demonstrate that anger, rage and hostility have a very damaging effect on the cardiovascular system. There's so much evidence that hostility is harmful that it's considered a major risk factor for disease. In fact hostility might even be a greater risk factor for heart disease than the ones you normally think of, such as: high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

Dr. John Sarno in his book "Healing Back Pain" talks about anger and rage as one of the main reasons why people have back pain. Also, Dr. Andrew Weil talks about anger and its relationship to back pain in many of his books. Other studies have shown that angry people have an increased risk of metabolic syndrome. This means angry people have a higher rate of being overweight, becoming diabetic and an increased risk of cancer.

A transformation happens when you get angry, your forehead wrinkles, your face gets red, your body stiffens up and your blood pressure goes up. Your blood chemistry changes as cholesterol goes up, your glucose increases and many other factors. All of this not only looks ugly, it puts stress on your mind, body and spirit. I'm sure you've seen people in the newspapers, people who have put holes in doors, broken window and even hurt people when they got angry.

So how do you heal anger?

First of all, acknowledge your anger! It's important to finally say to yourself, "I'm angry!" The longer you deny your anger, the more damage it will do to your body and life.

Voice your anger, not to anyone personally if that's not appropriate, but if you have someone, perhaps a good friend that's willing to listen, go for it! Let your friend know that you need to vent about something in your life, and remind them not take it personally.

Next let your anger out by: yelling, screaming, hitting a punching bag, rolling on the floor, running, doing exercises like karate, breaking old dishes, throwing rocks at the back fence, anything that helps release your anger. But most of all, don't hurt anyone! This process needs to be worked on repeatedly for months. It will take a while to get through your anger, so don't expect it to go away all at once.

It's normal to feel drained and relaxed after working on your anger, it means you are releasing pent up energy, and it's a good feeling. All that anger creates underlying stress on your body and now you're feeling your body let go.

Now see the situation

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