Why Anger Problems Are Bad For Your Health

What anger does to your body

When you get angry, how do you feel? Can you anticipate the rage as it burns in your body and manifests as an outburst? When you get angry, does your heart race? Your muscles tighten, fists and teeth clench, head throb, nostrils flare, and gaze becomes fixed?

If this all sounds like it would not be good for you, you’re right. There’s a profound impact on your health, and this emotion can also lead to behaviors like self-medicating with alcohol, drugs, or stress eating that further complicate the picture.

You’re hypervigilant and have activated the fight-or-flight response. Your face may turn red, your blood pressure rises, your heart pounds, and your body can become physically animated with movements like throwing your arms up in the air.

And in addition to these reactions, the situation can be made worse by saying things you will regret later. Some women liken it to experiences they have had with premenstrual syndrome.

Then there’s the aftermath when things have calmed down. You may feel physically drained, have sore muscles, experience an interrupted thought process, lose concentration, or even cry.

Anger without focus and proper channeling is destructive! (When controlled and directed in an appropriate fashion, anger can actually be a motivator for positive change.)

What’s causing the anger?

Anger, like most emotions, is complicated.

First, there are hormonal changes that occur during the menopausal transition. Besides the overall drop in the level of hormones like estrogen and progesterone, there’s the volatility that occurs until things settle out in the postmenopause stage of the journey.

During the transition, the changes can also increase sensitivity to stress that might have been taken in stride in the past. (They can also lead to greater vulnerability to a depressed mood). 

Hormones released by the adrenal glands (located on top of your kidneys) –  adrenaline and cortisol – generate many physical effects of anger/rage.

Adrenaline increases blood pressure and heart rate, and cortisol can prolong your hypervigilant state.

To add to the mix are menopause symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats, and muscle aches and pains that can lead to sleepless nights or even insomnia. Sleep deprivation doesn’t typically lead to a sunny disposition or increase your patience!

Then there are the feelings that can be stirred up related to the changes some experience, like weight gain, new/different body odor, vaginal dryness, and a loss of interest in sex. And if you feel alone or not understood in your suffering or are subjected to medical gaslighting, frustration levels can run high.

For some, this time in life can also create a sense of a lack of control and uncertainty.

Putting it all together, your body goes to battle and pays the price. And in many cases, the price is at least as high (maybe higher) for you as the object of your fury.