长期生气远比你想象得更伤身！研究：会伤害肠胃、大脑

生气远比你想象得更伤身。

你可能不知道，愤怒会导致便秘、胃痛、腹胀，增加心脏病发作的风险，甚至会损害大脑认知功能。

Getting angry doesn’t just hurt our mental health, it’s also damaging to our hearts, brains and gastrointestinal systems, according to doctors and recent research. Of course, it’s a normal emotion that everyone feels—few of us stay serene when a driver cuts us off or a boss makes us stay late. But getting mad too often or for too long can cause problems.
医生和最近的研究都指出，愤怒不仅会影响心理健康，还会伤害心脏、大脑和肠胃系统。当然，愤怒是一种人人都会有的正常情绪，当司机强行超车或者老板让我们加班的时候，很少有人能保持完全的平静。但是，经常发火或者生气的时间太长都会带来健康问题。

There are ways to keep your anger from doing too much damage. Techniques like meditation can help, as can learning to express your anger in healthier ways.
有很多方法可以控制愤怒，避免它对你造成太大伤害。冥想之类的放松技巧可以起到帮助，学会更健康地表达愤怒情绪也很重要。

One recent study looked at anger’s effects on the heart. It found that anger can raise the risk of heart attacks because it impairs the functioning of blood vessels, according to a May study in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
最近的一项研究调查了愤怒对心脏的影响。研究发现，愤怒会增加心脏病发作的风险，因为它会损害血管的功能。该研究发表在5月份的《美国心脏病学会杂志》上。

Researchers examined the impact of three different emotions on the heart: anger, anxiety and sadness. One participant group did a task that made them angry, another did a task that made them anxious, while a third did an exercise designed to induce sadness.
研究人员检测了三种不同情绪（愤怒、焦虑和悲伤）对心脏的影响。参与者被分成三组，分别执行会诱发愤怒、焦虑和悲伤情绪的任务。

The scientists then tested the functioning of the blood vessels in each participant, using a blood pressure cuff to squeeze and release the blood flow in the arm. Those in the angry group had worse blood flow than those in the others; their blood vessels didn’t dilate as much.
然后，科学家用血压计通过挤压和释放手臂的血流来测量每位参与者的血管功能。结果显示，愤怒组的血液流动比其他两组更差，他们的血管扩张力更差。

"We speculate over time if you’re getting these chronic insults to your arteries because you get angry a lot, that will leave you at risk for having heart disease,” says Dr. Daichi Shimbo, a professor of medicine at Columbia University and lead author of the study.
该研究的主要作者、哥伦比亚大学医学教授新保大地（音译）博士推测：“如果经常生气，导致血管长期受损，就会增加患心脏病的风险。”

Doctors are also gaining a better understanding of how anger affects your GI system.
医生们也逐渐了解了愤怒如何影响肠胃系统。

When someone becomes angry, the body produces numerous proteins and hormones that increase inflammation in the body. Chronic inflammation can raise your risk of many diseases.
人生气时，身体会产生大量的蛋白质和激素，增加体内的炎症。慢性炎症会增加患许多疾病的风险。

The body’s sympathetic nervous system—or “fight or flight” system—is also activated, which shunts blood away from the gut to major muscles, says Stephen Lupe, director of behavioral medicine at the Cleveland Clinic’s department of gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition. This slows down movement in the GI tract, which can lead to problems like constipation.
克利夫兰诊所胃肠病科、肝病科和营养科的行为医学主任斯蒂芬·卢皮解释说，愤怒会激活身体的交感神经系统，也就是“战斗或逃跑”系统，这会导致血液从肠道流向主要肌肉。这会减缓胃肠道的运动，从而导致便秘等问题。

In addition, the space in between cells in the lining of the intestines opens up, which allows more food and waste to go in those gaps, creating more inflammation that can fuel symptoms such as stomach pain, bloating or constipation.
此外，肠道内衬细胞之间的间隙会扩大，允许更多的食物和废物进入这些间隙，从而产生更多的炎症，并引发胃痛、腹胀或便秘等症状。

Anger can harm our cognitive functioning, says Joyce Tam, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. It involves the nerve cells in the prefrontal cortex, the front area of our brain that can affect attention, cognitive control and our ability to regulate emotions.
芝加哥拉什大学医学中心精神病学和行为科学助理教授乔伊斯·塔姆说，愤怒会损害我们的认知功能。它会影响大脑前额叶的神经细胞，前额叶是大脑的前面区域，负责注意力、认知控制和调节情绪的能力。

Anger can trigger the body to release stress hormones into the bloodstream. High levels of stress hormones can damage nerve cells in the brain’s prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus, says Tam.
塔姆博士说，愤怒会促使身体向血液中释放压力荷尔蒙。高水平的压力荷尔蒙会损害大脑前额叶和海马体的神经细胞。

Damage in the prefrontal cortex can affect decision-making, attention and executive function, she adds.

她补充说，前额叶受损会影响决策能力、注意力和执行功能。

The hippocampus, meanwhile, is the main part of the brain used in memory. So when neurons are damaged, that can disrupt the ability to learn and retain information, says Tam.

海马体是大脑中主要负责记忆的部分，因此神经元受损会破坏学习和保留信息的能力。

First, figure out if you’re angry too much or too often. There’s no hard and fast rule. But you may have cause for concern if you’re angry for more days than not, or for large portions of the day, says Antonia Seligowski, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, who studies the brain-heart connection.
首先，要弄清楚你是否经常生气或生气的时间太长。没有严格的标准，但研究大脑和心脏之间联系的马萨诸塞州总医院和哈佛医学院精神病学助理教授安东尼娅·赛丽戈乌斯基博士指出，如果你经常感到愤怒，或者每天有很大一部分时间都在生气，那就需要注意了。

Getting mad briefly is different than experiencing chronic anger, she says.
赛丽戈乌斯基博士说，偶尔生气和经常生气是不同的。

"If you have an angry conversation every now and again or you get upset every now and again, that’s within the normal human experience,” she says. “When a negative emotion is prolonged, when you’re really having a lot more of it and maybe more intensely, that’s where it’s bad for your health.”
她说：“偶尔进行一次激烈的对话，或者偶尔感到不高兴，这都是正常的人类经历。但是，当负面情绪持续很长一段时间，或者愤怒的频率和强度都明显增加时，就会对健康产生负面影响。”

Her group is looking at whether mental-health treatments, like certain types of talk therapy or breathing exercises, may also be able to improve some of the physical problems caused by anger.
赛丽戈乌斯基博士的研究小组正在调查心理健康治疗方法（例如某些类型的谈话疗法或呼吸练习）是否也能改善愤怒引起的某些身体问题。

Other doctors recommend anger-management strategies. Hypnosis, meditation and mindfulness can help, says the Cleveland Clinic’s Lupe. So too can changing the way you respond to anger.
克利夫兰诊所的卢皮博士推荐愤怒管理策略。他认为，催眠、冥想和正念练习可以起到帮助。改变应对愤怒的方式也很重要。

Slow down your reactions. Try to notice how you feel and slow down your response, and then learn to express it. You also want to make sure you’re not suppressing the feeling, as that can backfire and exacerbate the emotion.
卢皮博士建议：“放慢你的反应速度。试着觉察自己的感受，慢一点再做出反应，然后学会表达你的感受。同时，也要确保你没有压抑愤怒，因为压抑会适得其反，加剧愤怒情绪。”

Instead of yelling at a family member when you’re angry or slamming something down, say, “I am angry because X, Y and Z, and therefore I don’t feel like eating with you or I need a hug or support,” suggests Lupe.
“当你生气的时候，不要对家人大喊大叫或者摔东西。你可以说，‘我因为……而生气，所以现在不想和你一起吃饭，或者我需要一个拥抱或支持。’”

"Slow the process down,” he says.
卢皮博士强调：“放慢这个过程。”

编辑：陈丹妮 李雪晴

来源：华尔街日报