Mean people get more heart attacks....

Today's Post: Tuesday, 8-24-2010

A week ago yesterday on Monday 8-16, 2010, AFP had a story they titled:

"Heart attack, stroke risks higher for combative types: study"

This study found that people who classed themselves as aggressive were more likely have thickening of the lining of the neck arteries than those who described themselves as affable or accommodating.

Thickening of lining of the arteries is a risk factor for heart attack and stroke, note the authors of the study which appeared in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

In the second part of their study, 3 years after the first self description research was done, "those who scored higher on antagonism or low agreeableness -- especially those who were manipulative and quick to express anger -- continued to have thickening of their artery walls. These traits also predicted greater progression of arterial thickening,"

And, people who were in the most antagonistic 10 percent had about a 40-percent higher risk for thicker arteries.

Agreeable people tend to be trusting, straightforward and show concern for others, while people who score high on antagonism tend to be distrustful, cynical, and quick to express anger.

My comments.:

Note that while the article said that the people with the nastiness problem who got more heart attacks and strokes or set themselves up for them, were willing to work very hard to achieve their own interests and were competitive, that the researcher’s other information shows it was people who went about doing so in a mean and nasty and hostile way that caused the problem.

The people who went about it in a friendly way and might even work on win, win methods to get what they want, may have been just as determined to get what they wanted and willing to make just as strong an effort.

But they went about it differently.

Similarly, in competition, there are people who try to win by becoming more skilled and making a stronger focused effort but want to win when their opponent is also doing the same. And, there are people who would much rather sabotage their opponent or even hurt them to win. It’s the second group who have the cardiovascular problems.

Actually, this is a different way of describing something Dr Redford Williams discovered quite a while ago.

He noticed that there were people who were type A in terms of always being in a hurry or trying very strongly to beat deadlines or get a lot done to achieve things who got the same or less heart attacks as people who were less driven.

There were other type A people who did got a LOT more heart attacks.

He realized that there was something else that made the difference. When he looked more carefully, he found that it was hostility that caused the heart disease.

People who were driven or even often in a rush but were nice people and rarely felt hostile, were fine. But, people who were driven or even often in a rush and also got very easily irritated or angered and hostile, were dramatically more likely to get heart disease.

And, he confirmed this by showing that direct measures of hostility were far more predictive of heart disease than being type A.

The book he then wrote is called, The Trusting Heart, and is still in print and available on Amazon in both new and used copies.

I’ve learned since that hostile people tend to have three key thinking deficiencies.

1. They very, very often attribute mean and hostile motives to people who have none.

Such reality based thoughts as, “She may in a hurry too and maybe for reasons as good or better than mine.” “He may be having a bad day.” “Maybe he didn’t see me coming in time.” never show up. Instead, the person is thought of as being hostile to them and doing it on purpose. Indeed hostile people can be like that most of the time. Worse, they can be presented with evidence the other person was motivated differently and meant them no harm and do NOT change their hostile attitude and belief the other person meant them harm as if that evidence never showed up.

2. Their response if they are actually given a hard time or treated badly or they decide they have when it wasn’t true, instead of a sane and problem solving attitude, their entire attention is turned to punishing the other person, taking revenge, or “making them pay for what they did.”

This can cause even worse problems than a heart attack years later -- from being in an injury accident to going to jail for murder to instant death if they put someone with a gun in fear of their lives.

People who try to avoid that kind of hostile conflict and look carefully at how to escape the situation or achieve their goals anyway, if necessary with nicer people another time, can get out of situations where the other person actually WAS hostile by contrast.

They think in terms of achieving desired effects and avoiding unnecessary problems instead of being hostile as their only response.

3. They use self talk that focuses their mind on how they can’t stand to be treated badly or who they must always punish their enemies no matter what.

That such things are often harmful and other ways of thinking they could use might serve them better and even be possible to them simply never shows up.

So, the antidote is the reverse of that thinking.

If you like people and, given a chance, are happy to give them what they want or need and you even encourage people, you are much more likely to avoid being hostile. Dr David Schwartz literally taught to find and practice thinking of reasons to like the people you know and interact with. One way to do this is to notice and respect people for their strengths and what they do well. That way, even when they act up, you realize they have some redeeming features too.

If you practice thinking of realistic other motives for the actions people take besides deliberate hostility or even realize you have felt the same when the situation was reversed, you are far less likely to imagine hostile intent when none was ever meant.

Since hostile conflict acted out often harms both parties, you always look for achievable alternatives even when people are being deliberately hostile.

By not being hostile yourself or becoming hostile when it can be avoided, you are far safer and much more likely to achieve your goals. So, do yourself a favor and learn that skill.

Not only will you be safer and more likely to achieve your goals, the research now has now shown twice that you are far less likely to get heart disease besides!