You wear many hats throughout your lifetime, and trying to fill several roles at once—spouse, parent, caregiver, friend, employee/retiree—can be exhausting. In fact, over time the small daily stressors wear on us more than sudden, devastating events. Chronic stress ages your heart by increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar and continually flooding your body with cortisol. High cortisol levels are linked to atherosclerosis, the buildup of plaque in the arteries, according to a 2008 study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. In addition to the ways stress directly harms your heart, it can also tempt you to try other risky behaviors, such as smoking, drinking, overeating, or using drugs to relieve pressure.
Anger is a common response to stress, and evidence shows it can spike your heart rate and blood pressure, potentially raising your risk of heart problems. However, while early research showed that anger in general is harmful for your heart, new studies suggest that how you express your anger matters more. For example, a 2009 study in the British Journal of Health Psychology demonstrated that suppressing anger has immediate and delayed cardiovascular consequences. In addition, a 2010 study in the American Heart Journal found that men and women who blamed others for their anger increased their heart disease risk as much as 31 percent. Men in the study who discussed their anger to resolve a situation, on the other hand, lowered their chances of developing heart disease.
The studies on anger illustrate an important truth: Since our lives will likely always contain some chaos, our focus needs to be on responding well to stressful situations. And that pays dividends beyond keeping your heart healthy and young—it can also help you get more satisfaction out of your now-longer life! To deal with anger in a healthy way, choose your battles and resolve to fight fair (don’t be nasty, sarcastic, domineering, or hit below the belt, and avoid body language such as rolling your eyes). Above all, don’t suppress your anger and stew about it—that’s a recipe for heart disaster. Find a trusted confidant you can vent to, but use the conversation to help you move past anger, not dwell on it.
While you can’t entirely eliminate stress, you can employ strategies to minimize certain triggers. For example, if long lines at the grocery store send your stress levels skyrocketing, try shopping at a less busy time. Or if a coworker or relative gets on your nerves, cut back on the time you spend around him or her. Another key is to be realistic about what you can and can’t (or want to) fit into your schedule—then practice tactful ways of saying “no” to avoid overcommitting yourself. And when you have a mile-long to-do list, prioritize your tasks to ensure that you have enough time to tackle the most important things. Items that don’t get done can shift to another day (or you may eventually realize that you can let them go!).
Exercise changes your body’s reaction to stress by keeping your stress hormones balanced and boosting your mood (
4). That can make all kinds of pressure-filled situations easier to bear. Getting enough sleep can help you handle stress better as well. Also, give yourself time to decompress daily by doing things you enjoy, whether it’s pursuing a hobby, listening to music, or playing games with friends or loved ones. Even setting aside five minutes in the morning and in the evening to take a few deep breaths can help.
Cultivating happiness, or an optimistic outlook, helps tame tension, and research shows it can benefit your heart as well. Consciously choosing to look for the positive in situations can help you reframe your thoughts and break out of a negative spiral, notes Jason F. Mathers, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist in private practice. It can also help you identify aspects you have control over and can work to change, like asking your spouse to take over caring for an aging parent one day a week. Laughter is another powerful stress buster, and research shows it can buffer stress’s effects on blood pressure and help the inner lining of your blood vessels stay flexible and function better.