Strong emotions such as anger and hatred can create chronic anxiety. Chronic anxiety creates a stress in the body that causes you to produce an excess of adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones affect the immune system so that the production of the body’s defense cells (so-called killer cells) does not work properly.
Anger and illness
When the immune system is not working properly, the body cannot defend itself. Nor can it fight disease that is already present in the body in an optimal way. In other words, walking around being angry is rather dangerous from a health point of view.
To forgive
There is a project called The Forgiveness Project where they work to find alternatives to feelings of resentment, retaliation and revenge and prompt the question ‘how can we define forgiveness?’. To forgive is not about being weak or kind. It’s about feeling good and staying healthy. But above all, The Forgiveness Project has revealed that forgiveness gives a huge feeling of relief.
There are several options to arrive at forgiveness. You can also forgive someone without their knowledge. The goal of forgiveness is primarily one’s own peace of mind and health.
Irritation and frustration
Irritation and frustration are emotions that are quite close to anger. It can therefore be a good idea to consider whether it is possible to reduce things that cause those emotions. It can, for example, be about knowing that you usually “get started” when watching news and reading posts on social media. Or that you feel really annoyed after talking to certain people.
Nothing gets better or different because you get confirmation that your opinion is “correct” or “right” if it makes you more angry and irritated. Look for things that make you feel good instead and do more of that! Because just as there is a connection between anger and illness, there is a connection between peace of mind and a strong immune system.
