Harbouring feelings of bitterness increases the likelihood of physical disease... We all experience a bout of sour grapes from time to time, but experts are warning that being too bitter too often can actually make you ill. Researchers who have examined the relationship between failure, bitterness and quality of life found that blaming others can lead to physical disease. Unhealthy: Research shows that lingering feelings of bitterness can affect you physically (Picture posed by model) ‘Persistent bitterness may result in global feelings of anger and hostility that, when strong enough, could affect a persons physical health,’ says Carsten Wrosch, a professor in Montreals Concordia University Department of Psychology and a member of the Centre for Research in Human Development. Professor Wrosch is particularly interested in why some people avoid bitterness at different stages of life and why others dont. He has incorporated his theoretical considerations regarding bitterness in Self-Regulation of Bitterness Across the Lifespan, a chapter from the recently published book, Embitterment: Societal, psychological, and clinical perspectives (Springer 2011). Over the past 15 years, Wrosch has investigated how negative emotions, such as regret or sadness, affect people. Most recently, he has focused his attention on the impact of bitterness. With his co-author, Concordia alumna Jesse Renaud, they single out failure as one of the most frequent causes of bitterness. Anger and recrimination are its typical attendants. Unlike regret, which is about self-blame and a case of ‘woulda, coulda, shoulda,’ acrimony points the finger elsewhere - laying the blame for failure on external causes. ‘When harboured for a long time,’ says Professor Wrosch, ‘bitterness may forecast patterns of biological dysregulation (a physiological impairment that can affect metabolism, immune response or organ function) and physical disease.’ It is one thing to suggest that bitterness may cause sickness, quite another to propose that it be recognised as a mental illness.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 02:29:47 +0000
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