They say that harboring a grudge is akin to having the life
sucked out of you. There may be more truth to the statement than
you think.
While most of us know that bitter resentment can affect our
mental health, recent studies have found that it can also harm our
physical well-being. Like other emotions, bitterness has dire
repercussions: high blood pressure, elevated heart rate, and an
increased risk of heart disease.
According to Dr Charles Raison.., the associate professor of
psychiatry at Emory University School of Medicine: “The data that
negative mental states cause heart problems is just stupendous. The
data is just as established as smoking, and the size of the effect
is the same.”
Research from McGill University in Montreal also found that
there was an association between a feeling of hopelessness and the
thickening of the carotid artery, the main blood vessel to the
brain. The thickening of the carotid artery increases the incidence
of stroke.
Negative emotions like stress, anger and depression can lead to
physical problem such as high blood pressure, elevated heart rate
and increased risk of heart disease. Prolonged feelings of these
negative emotions can take a serious toll on your health in the
long term.
It’s near impossible to maintain a constantly outlook of life.
After all, we all suffer from more bad days than good. In fact,
many psychologists believe that expressing negative emotions are
healthy. The trick is to not let it become a chronic problem.
Here are 5 ways to resolve your negative emotions:
"Give yourself time to vent and get it out of your system,"
suggests Dr. Maryann Troiani, co-author of the
book Spontaneous Optismism.
It’s important to express those bitter feelings so that you
don’t end up nurturing them. The ear of a close friend is extremely
helpful as a sympathetic and non-judgemental outlet for your
anger.
Sometimes, we let our problems overwhelm us so much so that we
forget how lucky we are. We need to be reminded how small our
problems are when we compare them to others who are worse off than
us.
"I ask people to watch the news for a day, or read the paper, or
go to work and talk to people, and they'll see that others have
suffered and this is just a part of life," says Luskin, author of
the book "Forgive for Good."
Depending on the situation, it may work out or it may backfire.
Confronting your boss about his silly decisions may end up giving
you more trouble than it’s worth.
Instead, write a letter to the person you are angry at. Let out
all your rage on that piece of paper, then throw it away and move
on from there.
Holding a grudge is a conscious choice that people make. You can
consciously stop the process by constantly reminding yourself that
you are only causing yourself physical harm.
"I tell my patients, take care of this bitterness now, or in
five years it will haunt you in the form of chronic headaches,
fatigue, arthritis, and backaches," Troiani says.
People may treat you in a manner that you think is unfair.
Instead of flaring up, consider that their actions could be because
they’re going through a hard time themselves.
Occasionally, the path to forgiveness is empathizing with your
offender's situation.