E-Paper
Say No to Anger
Controlling anger can counter cardiac arrest, which is responsible for the maximum number of sudden deaths, writes Dr KK Aggarwal.
'You are what your deep-rooted desires are', is an old saying from Upanishads. If the feeling is pleasant, happiness prevails. But if the life is stressed with factors such as anger, the body will respond with physical stress too. An angry person is at a higher risk of heart attacks, paralysis, acidity, liver disorders, kidney malfunctioning and skin disorders. The need of the hour thus, lies in regression of the emotional outbursts of anger, fear and greed. Emotions of anger are linked to heart disease, fear to high blood pressure and greed to heart failure, diabetes and obesity.
Natural regression can help one avoid all such diseases with an input of sincere effort. Controlling anger alone can counter cardiac arrest, which is responsible for the maximum number of sudden deaths. The fact remains that people are yet unaware of the hazards of anger, which does inevitable harm to the body. Much is yet to be preached about it.
Desire is the retribution of outraged nature. This outrage is the fit of anger, which is a mere expression of frustration. A person in this fit personifies a matchstick, which before alighting anything else burns his/her own self. Such furious outbursts kill the knowledge and peace existing in the individual.
Anger hinders devotion and robs life of tranquility. In other words, it is the road to hell. Bitterness and resentment over a situation or a person primarily triggers anger. It is also the impact of uncontrolled desires, which is a severe blow to the body and mind and that may, at times, become irreversible and incurable.
What milk is to curd, desire is to anger. Desires or aspirations need to be restrained with the capacity of the individual, which later prevents any wreakage later in the peace of mind. This state of an animosity among humans eventually crops into mainly eight evils namely - injustice, rashness, persecution, jealousy, taking possession of other's property, killing someone, harsh speech and cruelty. The instigated bitterness often leads the affected person to adopt various sorts of sins.
What the bout of anger does further is undesirably amazing. Fury causes loss of memory, loss of intellect and lesser discrimination ability between the good and the bad. In later stages it might manifest inside the body in the form of hypertension and like diseases. The fits of anger are variably of many magnitudes, which ranges from irritation, frowning, resentment, indignation, fury, wrath and finally to rage. The worst form is 'rage', which is an uncontrolled and destructive form of anger. Its eruption in individual causes shivering with an instant excitement. Hypertensive persons run into such angry bouts more often.
The mental agitation triggers depression along with heart attacks, rise in the blood pressure, headache, insomnia and digestive disorders. Dangers of homicide and suicide give way in the most severe of rage-ridden cases. Emphasis needs to be laid on the repression and suppression of these aggressive emotions. One should give vent to his emotions, every now and then, to regress the possibility of depression, which weighs the individual deep down into the blues. But such an emotional vent should not trigger any kind of malice. This can only be avoided if anger is not used as a tool for executing such feelings.
When angry, the symptoms generally develop into the 'Evil tongue' syndrome. According to this thesis, anger is related to thinking evil about others, taking offence easily, finding faults with others or perhaps criticizing them publicly or indulge in backbiting, constant nagging, blaming others for whatever goes wrong, abusing aloud and finally taking up the violent tools of agitation through fighting. All of the three - action, thought and speech exhibit the stage of fury. Thus, for making it elementary for an individual to counter anger, all these three need to be well balanced, to bring the peace back in life.
At the onset of giving vent to malice, if necessary, prepare yourself for the worst. No doctor can prescribe any remedy to counter anger peacefully. It is a battle within the deepest self which needs to be fought intrinsically. When wrath is anticipated, one should try to divert oneself from that environment by taking a brisk walk in the open or going for a chilled glass of cold water. Taking deep breaths and even reciting a prayer or, as a matter of fact, any rhyme of the good old days will also help to control anger. One should make sure that one is not hungry at the time of the emotional outburst. Food, for that matter, is vital enough to discipline the intensity of such situations. Besides, as far as possible, eat natural foods. Take fresh foods and vegetables rather than processed food. And then controlling anger will not be as difficult as apprehended.
Analytically, anger is a feeling of defeat which is born out of dejection, fear and callousness. It may not be necessarily evil in nature. At times, anger may be used to fight injustice or vices prevailing in the society. In such cases, it is rational enough to exercise anger and agitation to revolt against the hypocriticism in the society. Besides, anger is bad only when it is inflicted with any selfish motive or greed.
It may be kept in mind that when angry, the body and the brain have already borne the brunt thereof. These outbursts create more enemies, makes the person unpopular and hurts one's friends who now abhor the violent person. One may score a temporary gain by the angry behaviour, but ultimately will be a loser in the long run. Frayed tempers have often failed to solve any problem. One can express frustration, dejection and run-down state of one's mind, but in a way which doesn't makes one rejected in the society because of one's relatively furious and profound deportment of feelings. If only the person remains in peace and also does not disturb the other's peace of mind can anger be avoided.
The ire further causes havoc and causes untold problems at work and at home. This disordered behaviour is not to be exercised especially at workplace because competent colleagues and superiors shall not tolerate this nonsense. Anger, in this case, does not do any good at all. Most of the murders occur in a fit of rage when sensibility, wisdom and reason are relegated to the backseat. Anger has disrupted and shattered the atmosphere in many families - let not your family be one of them.
(The writer is a senior Physician, Head Department of Cardiology and Deputy Dean Board of Medical Education-Moolchand Hospital, President-Heart Care Foundation of India, President Delhi Medical Association and Member-Delhi Medical Council.)
