Whenever You Are Angry

Don't get mad

Substitute anger and tears with a smile or a laugh

When you are angry

• The brain tells the body to pump out the action-hormone 'nor-adrenaline'.

• Breathing deepens, the heart beats more rapidly, blood pressure rises, and pupils dilate.

• Blood is diverted from other organs to the heart, central nervous system, and muscles.

• Digestion is suspended, glucose levels rise, men have testosterone boost. You're on red alert.

• You clench your fist, teeth and colon.

Anger is the body's natural emotional and physical response to being threatened. It is one of the first emotions we experience as babies, when Mum isn't as forthcoming with the milk as we'd want. According to some experts many of us are addicted to the highs we experience when the body releases 'nor-adrenaline', the hormone which kick-starts us into action, by mobilising fatty acids from the body's fat deposits.

Once upon a time this gave us the strength to fight or flee, but now these responses are not always necessary. Our blood becomes thick with free fatty acids. Tests on racing drivers, for example, show exceptionally high blood plasma levels of free fatty acids, because the physical and mental stress of Grand Prix racing are similar to frequent bursts of anger.

But for those of us who aren't race drivers, anger brews into a noxious stew in which free fatty acids can fur up the blood vessels, narrowing the arteries, making our blood clot, and causing an increased need for oxygen in the heart - all harbingers of a heart attack.

Repressed anger causes a slew of destructive repercussions like anxiety, detachment, high blood pressure, asthma, phobias, hysterics, weight problems, insomnia and sexual dysfunctions.

Anger should be used to convey real feelings of displeasure. As a human being you are entitled to feel angry and to express that emotion openly and warmly at the time it occurs, to the person who causes it. This meaningful communication clears the air, reconciles differences, and frees the flow of all feelings needed for a rich relationship.

Sometimes Get angry-it's good for you!

Anger can be good if it is controlled. If you express yourself properly, you can tell the world that you refuse to be a victim. Discover the difference between good and bad anger and how you can use anger in a healthy way…

Anger is a billion-year-old human survival mechanism, there to protect us from becoming victims. Unfortunately, although it's perfectly natural, we have always been taught not to feel angry.

When directed properly, anger can do wonders for your health, especially your heart. In the journal Health Psychology, it was found that men who suppressed their anger tended to have higher blood pressure than those who vented it constructively.

The men who vented it constructively are people who use "controlled anger". They use the rush of adrenaline they get from anger to sharpen their senses and get the outcome they want. This is in contrast to the "toxic anger"-the kind that happens when your mouth runs amuck and you end up sounding like an idiot because your judgment becomes muddled. By the way, "toxic anger" can be fatal too. The journal Circulation reported that men with high levels of anger were twice as likely to have a heart attack than other men.

Don't get angry; get more knowledge.