"Zeng Guofan's Family Letter" is a letter written by Zeng Guofan and his family, in which a passage reads: "My younger brother is anxious like Yu, I am afraid of depression or liver disease, and I am fortunate to be patient!" means that my younger brother's anxious personality is like mine, I am afraid that he will give birth to liver disease, and it is very important to be angry and patient. In the early years, Zeng Guofan's temperament was also irritable and angry, but later after continuous self-adjustment and introspection, he became solemn and calm.
If a person gets angry at every turn, when he is angry, it will affect his physical health. Therefore, anger is the first factor causing illness.
Anger is a negative emotion of people, when people are dissatisfied with the objective reality, or when their desires are not satisfied, when they suffer setbacks, and when they encounter unfair treatment, people will have a kind of anger emotion. You must know that when a person is angry, the sympathetic nervous system is in a state of excitement, the heartbeat will increase, the blood pressure will rise, and the person's breathing will be very short.
What harm does long-term irritability bring?
Excessive anger can easily lead to many diseases, such as digestive system diseases, breast diseases, endocrine system diseases, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, etc., which affect people's health.
Digestive disorders: If the patient often maintains excessive anger, it will cause sympathetic nerve excitation, which can lead to changes in blood flow in the gastrointestinal tract, which will cause the patient to have indigestion and affect the body's digestive system.
Breast disease: If a woman is often overly angry, she is more likely to bring about mood changes, and the brain will also send instructions to the body to produce too much corticosterol. When cortisol accumulates too much in the body, it will hinder the operation of immune cells and affect the secretion of hormones in the body, so excessive anger can easily lead to breast diseases.
Diseases of the endocrine system: If excessive anger is too often, the body can secrete too much corticosterol, causing endocrine disorders in the patient's body. At the same time, when excessive anger, the sympathetic nerves in the autonomic nervous system are extremely excited, and a large amount of adrenaline is released, resulting in a sudden increase in heartbeat, a rapid increase in blood pressure, and in the long run, high blood pressure.
Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases: because when the human body is in a state of excessive anger, a large amount of blood will rush to the brain, resulting in an increase in cerebral vascular pressure, if the situation is more serious, it may also cause cerebral blood vessel rupture, and when angry, it will also make the heart beat faster, the heart load will increase, resulting in myocardial ischemia and other phenomena in patients, so it is more likely to have cerebral infarction, coronary heart disease, etc.
Impaired liver function: Long-term anger can cause the body to be in a state of tension and stress, increasing the production of stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol in the body. These hormones inhibit the liver's normal metabolism and detoxification functions, leading to a decrease in liver function.
In the face of inner anger, how to "self-extinguish"?
1. Take a deep breath
When your anger is at its peak, tell yourself that you must wait for your anger to subside. Studies have shown that anger lasts no more than 12 seconds, like a storm, destroying everything at the beginning of the outbreak but calming down the rest of the day. Take a deep breath or count to 10 in your mind, and when you're done, you'll realize that you're not so angry anymore.
The way to take a deep breath
exhale
Relax your whole body, stand up naturally, slowly exhale the air in your lungs, and force your abdomen to tuck in.
inhale
After all the air in the lungs is exhaled, take the first deep inhale, control the time of inhalation, and slowly inhale through the nose for about 5 seconds, at which point the abdomen is bulging.
hold one’s breath
Inhale until there is enough air in your lungs and hold your breath for 5 seconds.
Out
Leave a small mouth like a fish's mouth, and slowly exhale the gas while tucking in the abdomen. Take a second breath after a two-second break, and hold your breath for up to 10 seconds or more depending on the number of exercises.
2. Actively communicate and exchange
When you are particularly angry or angry, tell your relatives, friends, and family about your thoughts or thoughts, and seek their understanding, so as to vent your negative emotions in time.
3. Exercise appropriately
Proper exercise can promote cerebral blood circulation, improve the supply of oxygen and nutrients to brain cells, delay the aging of central nervous cells, and thus improve the work efficiency of brain cells. The most obvious is the relaxed exercise, which can relieve neuromuscular tension and achieve a relaxing and calming effect. Neuropsychologists have shown that muscle tension is closely related to a person's emotional state. Anger usually makes the musculoskeletal muscles and visceral muscles tense at the same time, and through exercise, the muscles can gradually relax under the condition of relaxation, which is conducive to relieving muscle tension and reducing the possibility of bad emotions.
4. Mindfulness meditation dispels anger
01
Practicing mindfulness meditation before getting angry is more effective than using it when you're angry, and it can help you master the process of applying it so that you can get into your ideal state of mind when you're feeling down and angry.
02
If you are already feeling angry and need to be aware of the anger you are feeling, you should take your attention back to yourself and see what physical sensations are occurring in you. It is necessary to keep one's consciousness awake to the various reactions of the body.
03
When you are angry, it is very easy to separate your body and mind and forget your body, which is actually a coping mechanism designed to help people cope with the anger they feel. You may notice physiological sensations in your face, face, or even stomach, your heart rate and breathing may increase, and your muscles may begin to tighten. Pay attention to your body's physiological reactions.
At all times, do everything in a way that is not angry, and keep yourself in a state of peace. This is something that we should pay attention to. Always remember: "Longevity should stop thunder and anger, and health must stop thunderbolts." ”
Authors: Department of Neurology, Shanghai Tongren Hospital, Zeng Yuanyuan, Hua Li, Zhou Yi, Guo Zhiheng