Anger and Hostility and the Lungs and Hypnotherapists

It is important for us as hypnotherapists to help our clients release anger and hostility. But of course, we have always known this.

In this week's online issue of the journal Thorax, published by the British Medical Association, Dr. Roselind Wright of the Harvard School of Public Health noted that anger and hostility will change neurological and hormonal processes, which in turn may disturb immune system activity to produce chronic inflammation

They recruited 670 men between 45 and 86, with an average age of 62 and followed them for an average of eight years. The findings shown that anger speeds a decline in lung function. Hostility and anger are linked with cardiovascular disease, death and asthma.

Participants' levels of hostility were measured and rated at the start of the study and lung function measurements were taken three times during the follow-up.The men's hostility scores were seene to be closely linked to lung capacity, after taking into account other factors such as smoking and education that could influence the results. The men who became more hostile showed a more rapid decline in lung power than the men whose hostility levels were lower.

Dr. Paul Lehre said that chronic anger may permanently alter normal body responses to physical and psychological stressors, adding to "wear and tear". "Personality, as well as physiology, can change over time and deterioration in health and physical function can lead to negative emotion as well as vice versa, including for respiratory diseases".