Anger Management - Chapter 2 - The Costs of Anger - Educate and Explain

Oct 22, 2026

Uploaded by Asher

The chapter examines how chronic anger harms health and relationships, using a detailed workplace and personal-life case of George to show how repeated episodes signal a destructive anger pattern. It explains that while occasional moderate anger is not damaging, sustained anger can trigger physiological emergency responses that raise blood pressure and contribute to hypertension and heart disease. The text reviews research linking suppressed and expressed anger styles to cardiovascular risk, contrasting anger-in and anger-out coping strategies.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages89

Reading Time3 h 44 min

AccessFree to download

Chapter 2: The Costs of Anger

Physiological Costs of Anger

Anger and Hypertension

Anger Management Presenters: Behavioral Health Department Modesto Medical Center © 2019 The Permanente Medical Group CHAPTER 2 THE COSTS OF ANGER It’s Thursday morning. George has been working on the Whitehorse account all week when his boss calls him into the office and tells him to drop everything and start working on the Twingle project. George feels victimized. The Twingle project is much less prestigious than the Whitehorse account. It’s not fair—he was just starting to get into it, and now he’s out. He’s upset, and tells his boss so in no uncertain terms, storming out of the office. On the face of it, George’s anger in this situation seems justified. And his display of strong feelings might even serve to let his boss know about his degree of commitment. Perhaps the boss will realize that his decision was unfair, and change his mind. Perhaps. But let’s look at more of George’s behavior to get a better perspective. This is not the first time that he’s blown up at work. In fact, there have been three other episodes in the past thirty days alone. First, there was the incident with the equipment supplier, who admittedly was two days late delivering a part that George needed. Then there was the angry exchange with a coworker about who had priority using the copy machine. Worst of all was that misunderstanding with a customer who had complained to his boss. Maybe the customer was being unreasonable, his boss had said, but that was no excuse for George to be sarcastic and rude. On further analysis, it turns out that George has lost two previous jobs because of conflicts at work, and he’s received low performance evaluations for poor people skills. But the picture is even worse in his personal life. His wife filed for divorce eighteen months ago saying she couldn’t stand living with him anymore. He’s also been estranged from his sixteen-year-old daughter ever since he blew up and made a scene at her birthday party. And even his brother won’t talk to him anymore after that incident at the bowling alley. To top it off, a recent physical found that George has high blood pressure. Taken one at a time, each of the events referred to above might be justified or understandable. But added together, they point to a chronic anger pattern that is emotionally and physiologically damaging. 10 THE ANGER CONTROL WORKBOOK Physiological Costs of Anger There’s nothing wrong with occasional, moderate anger. It creates no lasting harm. But chronic, sustained anger can be a serious problem. By keeping the body in a constant state of emergency, chronic anger can contribute to hypertension, heart disease, and increased mortality from all causes. This chapter will begin by exploring what we know about how anger impacts your health. Later we’ll look at the emotional and inter personal costs of chronic anger. Anger and Hypertension “High” blood pressure can be understood by thinking about garden hoses. Let’s say that you have two garden hoses, one a half-inch in diameter and the other a quarter-inch in diameter. If you attach the half-inch hose to the faucet and turn the valve all the way you will get a steady stream of water. However, if you attach the quarter-inch hose to the same faucet, and turn the valve all the way as before, you will get a much stronger stream. Anger is associated with high levels of norepinephrine, which tends to constrict blood vessels. This raises blood pressure as surely as if you had switched to a smaller diameter hose. The idea that unexpressed anger (anger-in) could lead to high blood pressure has been circulating for more than half a century. In 1939, Franz Alexander suspected that his hypertensive patients were having trouble with feelings of anger and an inability to express them. This failure to express angry feelings, he argued, could lead to chronic activation of the sympathetic nervous system, and high blood pressure. Research as early as 1942, by Hamilton, confirmed that unexpressed

FAQs

Why is chronic anger considered harmful compared with occasional moderate anger?

Occasional moderate anger does not create lasting harm, but chronic sustained anger can keep the body in a constant emergency state, contributing to health problems such as hypertension and heart disease.

How does suppressed anger (anger-in) relate to high blood pressure?

Suppressed anger is linked to chronic activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which raises blood pressure. Research described in the chapter connects anger-in with hypertension risk.

How do anger-in and anger-out coping styles differ in cardiovascular impact?

In the chapter’s cited study, walking away (anger-in) was associated with high blood pressure readings, while protestation/confrontation (anger-out) was linked to even higher blood pressure. A third group using “reflection” tried to talk later after cooling down.

Oct 22, 2026

Uploaded by Asher