The Personality Trait That Increases Your Risk Of An Early Death

A person's personality has long been regarded as what makes them unique. While there are many factors that can contribute to the formation of your personality, you might wonder why some people are mostly calm, while others might be a bit more fiery or passionate. Aside from the traits themselves, there could be some connections between related emotional expression and your overall health. One notable example is persistent and intense anger. It turns out there is some solid evidence that such anger can increase your risk of chronic diseases — and even lead to an early death.

Anger is a common human emotion that's normal to experience from time to time. Whether you perceive a threat or are ruminating over a previous event, anger can manifest into different levels of severity. What's more, anger — like other emotions — often carries the reputation for solely affecting our mental states. It is true that chronic anger is connected to a risk of developing mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression. Yet anger also expresses itself through various physical traits due to spikes in both adrenaline and cortisol. Similarly, other emotions like excitement or fear can also increase the body's fight-or-flight state. Given these effects, it is easy to see how frequent anger can adversely affect the physical body, too. Intense and frequent anger is in fact known for increasing your blood pressure readings, heart rate, and blood sugar levels.

While occasional irritation is unlikely to cause permanent damage, experiencing extreme anger more chronically may lead to a variety of health issues, including high blood pressure (hypertension) and coronary artery disease. Columbia University researchers even found that anger can increase a person's risk of heart attack and stroke due to chronic vascular damage from impaired blood vessel dilation. Notably, anxiety did not have the same effects on the heart, as discussed in their published findings in the Journal of the American Heart Association in 2024.

Aside from the slew of previous evidence tying anger to health issues, a separate long-term study on a cohort of 17,352 men suggested that intense anger may be linked with an increased risk of cardiovascular and cancer related deaths. Published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine in 2022, researchers found that, over a 20-year timeframe, the risk of overall mortality was greatest in those who expressed anger more aggressively and frequently. The authors also noted that the men who died of cancer and regularly experienced anger were more likely to engage in unhealthy habits like smoking. On the flipside, the relationship between anger and cardiovascular mortality subjects was more likely to be due to underlying medical conditions that contributed to early death, such as high cholesterol and hypertension. Thus, while anger is an underlying contributor to early death, it's worth noting there are likely other factors that increase the risk of mortality.

Given the solid scientific link between chronic anger and early death, it's worth looking at ways to mitigate this issue. Much of this involves finding ways to calm this intense emotion before it takes over. Some possible self-calming strategies include deep breathing, going for a quick walk, or journaling. Healthy lifestyle habits can also go a long way in anger management due to their positive effects on stress. Getting enough sleep, eating a balanced diet, relaxation, and regular exercise are all ways you can feel better and possibly keep anger at bay.

And before you're tempted to hide away occasional anger you might experience, know that it's more helpful to express your emotions in other ways. Trying to suppress your anger can also be damaging to your mental health. Rather than hiding your feelings or expressing rage on a frequent basis, find a middle-ground instead. It's also worth talking with a mental health provider for help with anger management before it takes over your health and negatively impacts your cardiovascular health. This is especially important if you have underlying health conditions that already increase your risk for heart issues, such as hypertension.