There are many things in life that men get easily annoyed or impatient with such as traffic jams, ignorant drivers, complaining, inappropriate text messages; the list goes on and on.  It’s normal for anyone to get angry with these things, but the feelings seem stronger for some men than others.  For the extremely hot headed, the littlest thing could make them fly off the handle.  Some even enjoy having a bad temper; it makes them feel more masculine.  Uncontrolled anger can even end a marriage or career or may be deadly.  How do you know that your anger is out of control? 

There has been evidence that confirms anger can diminish your health.  Anger is more than just an emotion; it is actually psychological as well as physiological.  When you lose your temper at a moments notice your nervous system leads to increased breathing and cortisol levels, higher blood pressure, dilated pupils, and headaches.  Basically your body is getting into the flight or fight response mode due to the increased stress. 

A recent study found that people who had increased levels of anger with normal blood pressure were more likely to develop a coronary artery disease and 3x’s more likely to get a heart attack than the least angry people. Anger’s stress hormones could contribute to arteriosclerosis, the build up of plaques in the arteries that can cause heart attacks and strokes.   It has also been linked to depression.  Angry people are less likely to take care of themselves, eat unhealthy, smoke, and drink excessively.  Being angry is fine as long as you do something positive with it.  The greatest music and works of art have been a result of anger and frustration. 

You can control anger the same ways you would relieve stress by practicing deep breathing techniques, exercising, going for a walk, leaving the environment which caused the anger, close your eyes and count to 10 and picture yourself in a calm place.  It is a common myth that acting in a rage by throwing things, for example can help rid the anger.   Blowing your stack is not a good option but neither is suppressing your anger.  If you are annoyed with someone you need to try to resolve it in a rational way by being assertive, not aggressive or passive aggressive in any way.  If you know a certain situation or person pushes your buttons, try to prepare for it or better yet avoid it.  Serious problems need to be treated with an anger management program.