If LAUGHTER is the Best Medicine,
does ANGER Make You Sick?......YES
A few months ago I happened to be helping put with the treatment of two people with quite extensive 2nd and 3rd degree burns. Both were burned in separate incidents. One man was a steam bun seller and had his boiling cart upturned all over his back and arms in a road accident. The other was a woman who up turned hot oil over her forearms in a kitchen accident.
The man was remarkably calm, and on about day 4 of his injury asked if it was ok to consult his spiritual leader and meditate. Fine by me I said. It can’t do any harm, but I wasn’t sure how much good it could do either. The lady on the other hand was angry and bitter. She was to be married in a few weeks and was furious that the accident would interfere with the way she would look on her wedding day.
The man healed remarkably quickly, while the woman, yes you guessed it, took forever to lose her bandages! This is just one comparison and can hardly be called scientific, but it seems that others have been noticing this phenomena.
The adage that laughter is the best medicine has been backed by an unusual investigation which says that people who seethe with anger take longer to recover from injury.
Previous studies have linked ill tempered behavior, whether brow-beating or road rage, with higher incidence of coronary heart disease, hypertension and stroke, especially among men. But the new study, published in the British journal Brain, Behavior, Immunity, is the first controlled experiment that directly measures the impact of ire on the healing process. Researchers at the University of Ohio inflicted minor burns on the forearms of 98 volunteers who were then monitored over eight days to see how quickly the skin repaired itself.
The subjects had each taken a battery of psychological tests beforehand to assess how easily and often they felt and expressed wrath, and were then ranked on an “anger scale.” Persons who took certain pharmaceutical drugs, smoked cigarettes or drank excessive quantities of caffeine-laden coffee were excluded, along with individuals who were extremely over- or under-weight.
The results were startlingly clear: individuals who had trouble controlling expressions of anger were four times likelier to need more than four days for their wounds to heal, compared with counterparts who could master their anger. But the researchers were also surprised to find that anger has its nuances, too.
Subjects described as showing “anger out” (regular outbursts of aggression or hostility) or “anger in” (repressed rage) healed almost as quickly as individuals who ranked low on all anger scales.
Only those who tried but failed to hold in their feelings of upset and distemper took longer to heal. This same group also showed a higher secretion of the stress hormone cortisol, which could at least partly explain the difference in healing time, the study noted.
Earlier research has shown a clear link between cortisol and anger. Hostile men who yelled at spouses during marital spats secreted more of the endocrine modulator within minutes, as did teachers experiencing high levels of stress in the classroom. High levels of cortisol appears to decrease the production at the point of injury of two cytokines crucial to the repair process, suggests the study. Cytokines are proteins released by immune-system cells. They act as signalers to generate a wider immune response.
“The ability to regulate the expression of one’s anger has a clinically relevant impact on wound healing,” concludes lead author Jean-Philippe Gouin, a psychologist at the University of Ohio. “Anger-control therapy could help patients recovering from surgery or injuries heal more quickly” He said.
So it seems that anger management and “chilling” time come out on tops once again. The message in this? Pay attention to your “down time”. If meditation or yoga are your thing, super! But if you are of the less spiritual kind…hey a walk on the beach is just as good.
(Exerpts MSN Health)
Kim Patra is a qualified registered nurse and midwife who has been living and working in Bali for almost 20 years. She now runs her own private practice and medical referral service from her Kuta office. Kim is happy to discuss any health concerns with you and she may be contacted via e-mail at info@chcbali.com or Hp. 081 2366 0000.
