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“He died of a broken heart.”
“She had smoke coming out of her ears.”
“Pat blew a gasket.”
Mind-body thoughts and emotions are reflected in everyday language. Strong feelings of anger and fear frequently correlate to negative health conditions, such as heart disease, blood pressure, migraine headaches, skin conditions, and even the common cold (Hafen, et al., 1996).
Researchers have found that Type A people with high hostility scores (based on a widely used psychological test) had severe blockages of their coronary arteries (Williams and Williams, 1993).
We know that reducing anger and hostility can lessen a person’s chances of coronary disease, however, telling someone to "calm down," or "just let it go," doesn’t work.
Individuals prone to anger outbursts can also be categorized as constant worriers. Worry has been linked to health problems such as cardiac arrhythmias, increased blood pressure, and asthma.
Feelings of frustration and helplessness result when uncertainty arises. Not knowing what will happen next keeps people in a state of arousal (fight-flight response) and unable to relax. Constant stress and tension result.
So what helps?
Researchers have found the following four areas, in particular, go a long way toward promoting wellness in the mind and body:
- A healthy world view
- Stress hardiness
- Mindfulness
- Optimism
How you view yourself, your ability to solve problems and your trust in the order and rhythm of life plays a huge role.
Problems are not the problem; it’s how you view them in the greater context. When you’re able to step away from the situation, whether global or personal, perspective is gained.
For example, a person with a healthy world view might view the events of 2020 and feel a range of upsetting emotions. This individual would also consider reality and facts. Yes, COVID-19 is devastating, however, our last pandemic was 100 years ago. Believing in the competency of scientists, medical professionals, and epidemiologists is to suspend fear and hopelessness and to interject cautious optimism and hopefulness instead.
Having trust in the world is believing that for the most part, the universe is a safe place, where the majority of people possess goodwill. When you trust that most negative events are temporary, you view yourself not as a victim of circumstance, but more as a capable problem solver.
Suzanne Kobasa (1991, 1997) and colleagues have researched stress and stress reactions. When studying the effects of professionals who must make crucial decisions daily (business executives, attorneys and physicians), no correlation was found between stressful events and physical ailments. What mattered most was what people believed and how they responded. Kobasa originated the term stress hardiness to describe individuals who face significant stressors without resulting in significant health problems. Three aspects of stress hardiness include commitment, control, and challenge.
Commitment is possessing a deep interest in what happens around you, including your values, your work, and your compassion for others. A committed person fosters a sense of connection, rather than alienation.
Control means you see yourself as having agency over what happens to you.
Challenge is seeing obstacles as a means for growth, rather than a threat.
Mindfulness is the ability to focus on what’s happening in the present. When we can tolerate worries, fears, and anger, we become more emotionally regulated and less prone to over-reacting. Mindfulness helps us to resist living in the past, which can lead to depression or fearing the future, which contributes to anxiety.
Caveat: Many psychotherapy clients struggle with mindfulness. While various iterations exist, mindfulness is primarily paying attention to what you pay attention to. The trick is to not overly-identify with negative thoughts but to see them as a construct in your mind. For example, the fear of “What if I have a panic attack at the grocery store?” is merely a thought. Sitting with that thought is to sit with the stress reaction in body and mind and to wait for it to subside. Quite literally, we are what we think (Hafen, et al., 1996). This process could take minutes or longer. For in-depth information on de-escalating from panic attacks, read this anxiety-relief article.
Optimism is seeing the glass half full, rather than half empty. Researcher Martin Seligman observed how people communicate the “bad” things that happened to them. Pessimists tend to blame themselves, others, and the world for negative situations. They tend to catastrophize (think worst-case scenarios) and have more dire health outcomes than optimists. Optimists, on the other hand, were found to seek the good in situations, resist self-blaming, and to focus on solutions to problems, rather than dwell on the "what-ifs."
When you internalize that your thought patterns and reactive behaviors can be rewired, you can see yourself being more calm, confident, and in control. By intentionally practicing techniques to slow your mind and body, you can reduce the intensity of stress and anger. No matter what is happening to you or around you, practicing positive coping skills can help you live a healthier life.
© 2020 Linda Esposito, LCSW
