The Upside Of Anger

Anger often gets a bad rap, but sometimes it’s critical for you to get mad.

- Sonia Zadro

Anger can be destructive. Not only does it feel pretty crappy, it’s terrible for your body in the long term. Anger is the “fight” in your “fight or flight” defence system, which activates your sympathetic nervous system when you feel under attack. When fight or flight is switched on, stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline are released, your heart pumps blood faster to carry oxygen to your extremities, blood is diverted away from your stomach and into your arms and legs to run from or fight danger and your immune system is suppressed. This is all okay if it only lasts a couple of minutes or hours. But if your fight and flight system is switched on for weeks, months or even years, it takes a toll on your body. You might get sick because of your suppressed immune system; your stomach’s organs (with less blood flow) and your heart (with the increased pressure of pumping more blood) may start to wear down, causing illness and heart problems. Then, of course, there’s the psychological impact of chronic anger, depression and anxiety, not to mention the devastating impact anger can have on relationships when not kept in check, or worse, when combined with alcohol. Not to mention the effect anger can have on society when expressed destructively through politics, war and religion.

The function of anger

So, why have anger at all if it’s so destructive? Originally, anger kept humans alive in the wild, motivating them to run from the lion or to fight danger. In modern society, it still plays this role. You don’t want to be casual about a car coming towards you at 60 kilometres an hour. You need a system that goes “Get off the road!”