Worry, anger and depression damage your mood as well as your immune system and even your heart. The secret of good health and happiness is to deal with your moods effectively.

Are you quick to anger? Often anxious or down in the mouth? There is more than your happiness at stake: scientists have proved that your mood can affect your health.

Beating the blues
Everyone feels down in the dumps at times. It is perfectly normal and often an appropriate reaction to change or loss - such as divorce, bereavement and redundancy. But chronic depression can make you more vulnerable to illness and aggravate such conditions as heart disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

Because depression elevates levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which robs bones of calcium, it may also contribute to bone loss, increasing your risk of fractures.

One way to stave off depression is by maintaining an active social network and staying involved in life. But the fastest way to raise your spirits is to get out and exercise. You will boost your levels of endorphins, the body's feel-good chemicals. Exercise can even help to prevent depression in the first place.

A Scottish study found that attending exercise classes for 45 minutes twice a week improved the symptoms of people suffering from depression far better than the same amount of time having health talks and discussions. Exercise seems to work in cases where antidepressants have failed.

Weightlifting is also effective. In another study, people suffering from mild to moderate depression used weight machines three times a week. After ten weeks, 82 per cent no longer showed signs of depression.

If you are interested in natural remedies for the blues, you might consider St John's wort. In the UK you can buy it over the counter or in healthfood shops. Its anti-depressive action is being closely studied. Talk to your doctor first though, as it may interact with medications.

If your unhappy feelings linger for more than two weeks or begin to overwhelm you, you should talk to your doctor, who may decide that you need an antidepressant.

If you consistently lack energy, feel worthless, take no pleasure in what used to delight you or if you begin to experience sleeping problems, significant weight gain or loss, difficulty concentrating or remembering or persistent thoughts of death or suicide, seek urgent help from a professional.

Fact
Depression isn't ‘normal’ when you get older, but unfortunately it is common. Among people aged 65 and over, nearly 6 out of 100 suffer from clinical depression.

Are you SAD?

If the winter months really get you down, you may have what is referred to as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a mood disorder related to the seasonal ebbing of light. January and February can be particularly difficult, and you may experience low energy, low mood and weight gain.

If you suffer from SAD, try spending at least an hour a day outdoors, perhaps walking in winter sunlight. If you are unable to get enough daily sunlight, you may be a candidate for at-home light therapy.

This involves sitting in front of an appliance that produces a bright, daylight-simulating light for a period each morning. For lasting relief, light treatment should continue until spring. For more information on SAD, see www.sad.org.uk

What, me worry?
A little worrying now and then can be productive. Without anxiety you probably would not bother to lock your door at night or have your regular mammogram. But it is time to lighten up a little when worry detracts from your enjoyment of life.

Too much worrying can lead to a host of problems, such as reduced concentration, poor sleeping habits and the inability to handle everyday difficulties. What's more, it may also cause physical problems, such as raised blood pressure.

Before you literally worry yourself sick, try these strategies:

• See it from a different perspective Don't get bogged down in the details. Talk to yourself about the bigger picture, or imagine what a rational friend would focus on in your situation.

• Log your worries Writing down your worries helps to create an objective distance between you and your concerns. Jot down your thoughts every day, perhaps first thing in the morning before you start your day. Spend about 15 minutes writing and thinking about what is bothering you and then leave it alone.

● Pack away your worries If writing a diary is not for you, create a ‘worry box’ in your mind. Imagine tucking away your anxieties in a box and closing the lid.

Then put this imaginary box somewhere well out of sight and almost out of reach. Set aside a specific time each day to get the box down, open it and examine your worries, but otherwise, resolve to keep it closed.

• Share your worries with a friend Discussing your fears with a trusted friend helps to lift the burden of worry and also gives your friend an opportunity to offer comforting thoughts or, perhaps, a dose of reality.

• Create a personal worry space Choose a quiet spot in your home where you can focus on your worries without being interrupted. Go there every day for about 10 to 20 minutes. Make sure to maintain a strict time limit, and try to avoid worrying except when you are in your designated ‘worry space’.

• Imagine a ‘happily ever after’ See yourself mastering any difficulty and the problem being resolved in the best possible way. Focusing on a happy outcome may even help to make it happen. After all, the way we view the future often ends up being a self-fulfilling prophecy.

• Learn how to relax Taking a class on stress reduction or meditation can help you to slow down those racing thoughts of gloom and doom. Check with your local library or adult college about programmes in your area. Yoga, ballet and t'ai chi classes can also help to refocus your thoughts.

• Seek help from a therapist If your worries spin out of control continually or if you have exaggerated feelings of distress or apprehension, a therapist or counsellor can help you to work on ways to regain control.

Taming the angry beast
Anger can be a healthy emotion. When you examine and express it constructively, it can lead to personal growth and greater intimacy. But when you consistently repress it, or when it colours the way you look at life, it can make your life miserable – and possibly lead to serious health problems.

Anger unleashes a flood of artery-damaging stress hormones into your bloodstream, raises your cholesterol levels and heart rate and suppresses your immune system. Studies repeatedly show links between hostility, repressed anger and heart disease.

A recent study found that both repressing anger and repeated expressions of hostility caused a build up of homocysteine, a chemical in the blood that is closely associated with heart disease.

Do you recognize a level of hostility in yourself? People who tend to be hostile generally have:

• a cynical mistrust of others (thinking others are too slow, incompetent, stupid or wrong)
• frequent angry or negative feelings or overreactions to relatively minor events
• aggressive behaviour (fits of road rage and using the car horn excessively, shouting, throwing things and slamming doors).

Researchers have worked out that hostile people are more likely to develop life-threatening illness and have a greater chance of premature death than those who are more mild-mannered. They are also more likely to smoke and to eat and drink more than is good for them, with dire effects on their general health.

The issue is not so much anger itself, but the extent to which it permeates your life and how you deal with it. The bottom line is this: if it is chronic (that is, ongoing), it is dangerous.

Does the slightest delay set you off? Do you go berserk in a traffic jam? Do you habitually think others are getting it wrong? Do you find it hard to forget a slight? These are some of the ways chronic anger can show up. It makes your own life unhappier, of course, but it also alienates the people around you, leaving you totally isolated.

Learning to recognize and express your anger appropriately is the best way to keep it from eating into your life. See above, What to do with your anger, for tips on managing this potentially destructive emotion.

What to do with your anger
If you are quick to anger and you tend to act out your anger in destructive ways, put these strategies into practice.

1. Recognize and accept your anger   When you feel angry, be curious about your reaction. Ask yourself:

• What does it do to you physically? (Does it make you clench your jaw? Give you a headache?)

 

• How do you express it? (Do you become sarcastic? Snap at people? Say hostile, cutting things you later regret?)

 

• Why did you get so angry? (Was it because your feelings were hurt? Were you frightened? Insulted?)

2.Take responsibility for your anger    Recognize that it is your choice whether or not to become angry. Once you accept responsibility for your feelings, thoughts and behaviour, you are less likely to react explosively.

3. Talk about your anger    Verbally expressing how you feel is better than acting your anger out, and it will make you feel more empowered in your personal relationships.

4. Cool off    With time, you may understand what set you off and decide whether action is necessary or not. If your anger doesn't dissipate or if you find yourself simmering and getting irritated all over again, try to cool off by:

• counting to ten

 

• taking deep breaths and focusing on your breathing

 

• removing yourself physically from the scene of the conflict to a quiet place, or going for a walk

 

• calming yourself by visualizing a serene setting or experience, where you feel peaceful and unthreatened

 

• meditating

 

• talking yourself down to a calmer or more positive place

 

• looking at the event that triggered your anger from another perspective – say, that of the other person involved.

Learn appropriate ways to express your anger    An anger management course or a therapist may help you to learn to defuse your rage. Inability to deal with anger is often tied to unresolved hurts from the past. Discussing your feelings with a professional can help you to untangle these emotions.

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