The following is a transcript of an interview between Patrick Wanis, Human Behavior and Relationship Expert, PhD and Dr. Michael Bauerschmidt, Medical Director of Full Potential Health Care https://www.fullpotentialhealthcare.com/ revealing how anger seriously impacts your body, aging you and causing death via strokes, coronary artery disease and heart attacks. Patrick Wanis and Dr. Mike also reveal quick and effective ways to deal with anger. For previous part of this transcript (Part 1), click here: https://patrickwanis.com/blog/anger-shortens-life-kill-you-oxidative-stress/
Patrick: So Dr. Mike, would you summarize adrenaline as a poison?
Dr. Mike: Yes and no. Yes, because we do need balance. We need the sympathetic [nervous system] ‑- the sympathetic is what prepares us for the Fight or Flight. The parasympathetic is our digestion and absorbption. So we need the balance.
If just sat around digesting and absorbing all day, we’d all be couch potatoes, you know, overweight and obese and we’d die from lack of activity. On the other hand, if we stay angry all the time, we’re creating abnormal wear and tear on our bodies and we’re going to die from heart disease and strokes and the myriad other things that come from increased oxidative stress.
So it’s all about balance. So no, I don’t view any naturally occurring chemical or hormone in the body as a poison.
Patrick: If we’re engaging in exercise, we release adrenaline. If we use that adrenaline, is it okay on the body?
Dr. Mike: Well, of course. And with moderate exercise, and we’re not out there — you know, if you look at an Olympic athlete, there may be some genetic predisposition that makes them better able to tolerate the oxidative stress. But even pro-athletes can over-train and can actually hurt their bodies.
And if you look at professional football players, what’s their life in true action on the line? You know, linemen have just a three or four-year history before they’re done. You know, they can’t do that job anymore because they’ve used up — they’ve created such wear and tear on their bodies in a very short period of time.
As opposed to swimmers, if you remember down here in Florida, we had a woman in her 40s who was – who almost qualified for the Olympic team again this year.
So it depends on the activity, it depends on your genetic makeup, it depends on your body’s ability to obviate damage from oxidative stress, and it depends on how and what other ways you’re trying to take care of yourself.
Patrick: And that goes back to our first conversation regarding food and regarding the significance of eating the right food and eating the right amount of unprocessed whole foods.
Dr. Mike: Exactly.
Patrick: The situation, though, does determine definitely the outcome. And what I mean by that is if I’m in a car and I’m experiencing road rage that means my body has triggered the Fight-or-Flight Syndrome so now, all those chemicals — the adrenaline, epinephrine, norepinephrine — are moving and circulating and filling up throughout my body. That’s very different to if I were exercising and my body released adrenaline and I got to use up the adrenaline. Is that true or not?
Dr. Mike: Yeah, to a point because here’s the difference: part of it has to do with your mindset. When you are suddenly startled, you weren’t expecting it. That’s the whole definition of being startled — the sudden, unexpected event that — and the instance that you’re citing is putting your life in imminent peril or there’s a perception that your life is in imminent peril.
That is a surge of adrenaline that is quite different from adrenaline that kind of goes oh, I’m going to exercise, I choose to exercise, I’m going to go to the gym, I’m going to get on the treadmill, I’m going to be watching my heart rate, it’s going to be going up, I’m going to get it into a range, I’m going to keep it there and then I’m going to take it down when I start feeling tired. You’re not overwhelming the system.
Patrick: Okay. In the situation of the car, though, there are two distinct possibilities and scenarios. One is: the one you just mentioned, where I feel startled and I feel my life is being threatened and so my body automatically releases the adrenaline, preparing me to fight or to flee.
Second situation is: I’m in the car, I’m in a hurry, I’m already frustrated and anxious because I’m concerned about getting to an appointment, getting to work and the person in front of me is going slow, so I’m behind them and I’m now building up this anger which then also releases adrenaline.
How do those two situations vary?
Dr. Mike: In the first instance, it’s again, the surge. And you really have no control over that surge that occurs when your life is in imminent danger. The second situation, here you have a chance to diffuse it. In all other respects, they can be same because you’re just having a slower buildup of the same levels of epinephrine and your stress hormones.
However, in the second instance, when you’re frustrated to begin with, now you have a choice and you can choose to be angry and frustrated; or, you can start to diffuse the situation through some deep breathing, through just a brief meditation, through, you know, just letting it go and trusting that — and having a little trust and a little faith, and this is where a spiritual life actually can extend your life considerably.
Patrick: Okay. So in a moment, we’ll come back to the actual solutions to anger.
The one point I’m trying to gain clarity on myself is that once your body has released all this adrenaline, you referred to it as a surge. So there’s a surge of adrenaline in your body. If you’re sitting in a car, there’s little you can do other than some deep breathing.
But if I was startled and I was on the street and I have this surge of adrenaline, isn’t the safest and the best way to respond to that adrenaline, to actually, for example, run it out to utilize that adrenaline?
For Part 3 of this transcript – the continuation, click here: https://patrickwanis.com/blog/solutions-help-dealing-with-anger/
Anointed “The Woman Expert” by WGN Chicago, Patrick Wanis PhD is a renowned Celebrity Life Coach, Human Behavior & Relationship Expert who developed SRTT therapy (Subconscious Rapid Transformation Technique) and is teaching it to other practitioners. Wanis’ clientele ranges from celebrities and CEOs to housewives and teenagers. CNN, BBC, FOX News, MSNBC & major news outlets worldwide consult Wanis for his expert insights and analysis on sexuality, human behavior and women’s issues. Wanis is the first person ever to do hypnotherapy on national TV – on the Montel Williams show.