Hostility Seen Harmful to Long-Term Health

[jc84corvette]

Oh poop! I gotta be nicer!

[WalkerInTheWoods]

Make love, not war. []

[shaman]

It is not the hostility that makes them of poor health but it is the same conditions that drive them hostile that also destroys their health... If you add smoking and drinking for these same people then, there you are... They should not have checked the hostility but rather the social conditions, and the mood of the person (depressed, etc...). The hostility is just a behavioral reaction to a situation, and it is rather the situation (depressed) that causes more health damage than the hostility itself. Actually it has been shown that someone who keeps inside all his anger will cause her/himself more damage than someone who  gets upset, yells or even get agressive (hostile). This is a good exercise in anger management (saw the movie with Jack Nicholson?).

As for me I know what to do when I get angry.... big and green.... let it come out of you, don't let that boil inside you, it will kill you.... but remember even so don't hurt the others... just break some furniture, or a tank or two,....

[xander]

quote:Originally posted by Tisha


 
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Beware, angry young men:

What about angry young women? What's the researchers definition for hostility?

Personally I see a lot more hostile women than men in society, despite the fact that women have more subtle ways of being hostile and society in general doesn't like to look at women in a negative light.

Nicholas

[Tisha]

Sorry, the study was about men, not women.  If I see a study about hostility in women, I'll post it.  

In the mean time, if you see an angry woman it's probably because she's allowed herself to be taken advantage of, AGAIN, and she doesn't know what do to about it except be angry.

[Tisha]

here you go, an article about men, women, and their respective abilities to control agression:


http://www.personalmd.com/news/n0926092502.shtml

[Tisha]

http://dir.salon.com/health/feature/2000/03/22/anger/index.html

Anger does not effect women's health as much as it does men's?  I dunno . . . the study relied self-assessments.  But the article was interesting.

[Fyrenze]

As an acting major, I study the way we behave, and I attempt to allow myself to give in to my impulses when I need to. It's a lot harder to do than it should be. It should be the simplest thing in the world - funny, it's so related to projection and energy working...

Anyway, the point is, I think it's perfectly fine and even beneficial to express anger and negative emotions. I don't think they really are "negative". It's all in your perspective and in your intent.

][\/][

[xander]

quote:Originally posted by Tisha

In the mean time, if you see an angry woman it's probably because she's allowed herself to be taken advantage of, AGAIN, and she doesn't know what do to about it except be angry.

I think the majority of angry people (men AND women) usually have been taken advantage of. I don't think many people choose to be angry for the sake of being angry.

One must also consider the number of angry people who are angry because they PERCEIVE theyve been taken advantage of when they haven't been.

[Tisha]

This is why I said "allowed themselves to be taken advantage of."  You cannot be taken advantage of unless you allow it.  Perception is everything!  

Unfortunately, women are trained from a very young age to lay down for the steamroller and call it "caring."  And then men wonder why middle-aged women are seething with resentment, when they're dumped/divorced/poor/neglected/whatever!  Do you really need to wonder why so many middle-aged women look chewed-up and spit-out, as if life took them by the hair and dragged them through the brambles?

What do you think is the basis for men's hostility?  Wounded pride?

Remember everyone, there is a difference between anger and hostility.  Hostility is the acting out of anger.  Everyone gets angry, but not everyone acts out in a hostile manner.  There are healthy and unhealthy ways to express anger.  I'm sure Fyrenze was not talking about going home and beating up his/her spouse for the sake of his/her "art."

Man or woman, there's a way out of this.  For women, it's called "personal boundaries."  For men, it might be something different.  Any thoughts?

[Fyrenze]

Well physical venting of anger can also be quite healthy - but yeah. Of course I agree, and only a much madder person than I would not. Throw chairs, punch walls or punching bags...And actually even most of that's not really acceptable in society either, but it does feel damn good. My point was simply that if you change your perspective even emotions classically defined as negative can have a positive effect on you.

All you have to do is let go.

I also agree that men and women are usually programmed different. If you say a woman would cry when she gets hurt, I'd guess you'd be right about 3/4 of the time. (I'm not really talking physical pain, but it's sort of true on that level too - plus I'm being conservative - I don't mean to comment on any one better, I'm simply stating the way it seems to be) A man is a lot more likely to turn the pain into anger.

I do very much enjoy breaking conventions though, and while there have been plenty of confrontations for me in studio, and there's nothing like a good fight, (it's great, it's basically free therapy - I have to say everything that my partner makes me feel) there's nothing quite like a good cry either.

[Mustardseed]

I am not in agreement with putting down gender in there, and it seems obvious you are American. They always think they are the whole world. (world series fx) the social order in Europe is soooo different from here. Like another planet , but I believe the statement in that article has some truth to it. What you are angry about and how you allow or disallow yourself to express it also seems to matter.
Regards MS

[Tisha]

Certainly there would be SOME cultural differences when it comes to the expression of anger! There are even regional differences in the U.S.  For instance, in the (antebellum) South, women are much less likely to express their anger, as it is not "lady-like."  Other places, women can be quite emphatic and downright feisty (New York City!), and it's seen as a normal (even attractive) thing.

Then again, in some places (for instance, my home state, dominated by stoic, Calvinistic, nordic-germanic types), it's not okay for women OR men to express anger.  In my family, no one ever raised their voices.  Sure, we seethed with inner hostility, but we did not express it!

In some countries, there is the culture of "machismo," which is a kind of mythologizing of male hostility and pride.

Where are you from, Mustardseed, and what is it like there?

[xander]

I think that we cannot lump behaviors and genders into groups.
Anger goes beyond that. I've seen women launch into hitting and screaming rages due to wounded pride. I've seen guys become depressed and weep for hours. (depression is anger turned inward).

We also have to take geographic area and culture into account. Speaking as an American I can tell you that teh media is so far off of how real life really is, yet people run around and try to act the way the media tells them too.

In regards to cultural grouping being created by the media there are hundreds of examples, from what we buy to who we date based on what the T.V. says is normal.

[Tisha]

Yeah, I know it's all nice and politically correct to say there ought not be gender differences when it comes to emotions and behavior.  But, despite our desire for a fair kind of sameness, there are important differences!  Studies bear this out over and over again, and it's not just culture; it's also hormones and the brain!

[xander]

quote:Originally posted by Tisha

Yeah, I know it's all nice and politically correct to say there ought not be gender differences when it comes to emotions and behavior.  But, despite our desire for a fair kind of sameness, there are important differences!  Studies bear this out over and over again, and it's not just culture; it's also hormones and the brain!

[]HAHA! I wasn't being politically correct, I was being real.
I know there are important differences each quality compliments the other in perfect union (theorhetically)

I do not want to think all is the same and fair. I did the PC thought pattern awhile ago and reality kept slapping me in the face. Society is all about differences. I think part of the problem with America is that everyone is trying to be homogenous within their own group and attempt to impose it on others through the very elitest attitudes they claim to be against.

[Fyrenze]

I'm with Tisha - my comments had nothing whatsoever to do with any cultural differences although that changes things too. I'm not saying at a base level men and women aren't very alike, but humans rely almost entirely on learning and experience and very little on instinct. And again, I'm not saying this is always the case, but don't even argue that it's not usually true.

And let's face it - little boys and little girls are NEVER brought up the same, in any culture. There are a million little social stigmas built around the organs you're born with (or the ones your parents wish you were born with) and this has a hell of a lot to do with the average person's personality.

][\/][

[Murt]

I very proud to be a guy, and a Man/Male. I find
Alot of females try to make you feel ashamed to be a Man.
But without the male agressive nature, we would still be living in caves. Nearly everything you see is invented by males, using their strong headed male agression, and more logical mind.

[Tisha]

 
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Beware, angry young men: you may grow up to be unhealthy middle-aged men, according to new research.

The study found that people who displayed high levels of hostility during college tended to have more health risk factors than people who were more mellow in college.

But hostile college students are not doomed to an unhealthy life, according to the report. Their health is better if their hostility declines appreciably as they get older.

As any parent of a teenager knows, hostility usually peaks in late adolescence. Dr. Ilene C. Siegler of Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, and others set out to see what effect hostility in the late teen years has on health later in life.

The study included more than 2,000 people -- mostly white men -- who started college in the mid-1960s. Hostility was measured when participants were in college and approximately 23 years later. Health risk factors, such as smoking and obesity, were measured in the 1990s.

Higher hostility in college was related to greater health risk factors in middle age, the researchers report in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

People with higher hostility in college were more likely to smoke, to drink more than recommended and to feel a lack of social support. They also were more likely to have symptoms of depression and to think that their family life was going downhill.

The researchers also uncovered some good news for people who were hostile in college. Hostility tends to diminish over time, but people who experienced a greater-than-average drop in hostility level as they got older had reduced health risk factors.

In contrast, people who became more hostile as they got older experienced more health risks, including twice the risk of being obese or depressed.

The results of the study highlight the need to nip hostility in the bud early in life, according to the authors.

"Interventions designed to reduce or (potentially more important) prevent gains in hostility ... may well help to reduce health risk behaviors and thus enhance the health of the population," the authors conclude.