New research suggests constant bitterness can make a person ill. Finally! Science has managed to discover what the Bible has been professing for over 2000 years! Oh well, better late than never, right? Anyway…..
What is bitterness? It is anger, resentment, and disappointment at being treated unfairly. Bitterness can be based on one incident or life circumstances.
According to psychologist Dr. Carsten Wrosch, persistent bitterness when strong enough could affect a person’s physical health. Carsten Wrosch is a professor in Montreal’s Concordia University Department of Psychology and a member of the Centre for Research in Human Development.
“When harbored for a long time,” Wrosch said, “bitterness may forecast patterns of biological dysregulation (a physiological impairment that can affect metabolism, immune response or organ function) and physical disease.”
“In order to deal with bitter emotions there is something required to enable a person to overcome the negative emotion — that something is forgiveness,” said Wrosch.
The first step to overcoming bitterness is to practice forgiveness. Some people have experienced some horrible events in their life and have every reason to be bitter. However, this emotion does not hurt whoever offended you. It hurts you. When you forgive, the offending person or situation no longer has power in your life. Here is a quote from Nelson Mandela. “As I walked out of the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.”
Bitterness and associated diseases
There is evidence to show that suppressed anger (bitterness) can be a precursor to the development of cancer, and also a factor in its progression after diagnosis.
Anger (bitterness) frequently accompanies autoimmune diseases. Proneness to anger (bitterness) places middle-aged men and women at significant risk for Coronary Heart Disease.Anger (bitterness) initiates the stress response within the body causing blood sugar levels to rise.
Words of Clinical Wisdom
As a physician strongly passionate about identifying the underlying root cause(s) of my patient’s health issues, my focus does not overlook the detrimental impact of emotional poisons like bitterness (anger, resentment, etc.) on a patient’s health challenge.
If you are an individual struggling with a condition that simply will not improve despite all the physicians you’ve seen and all the meds you’ve taken, consider having a heart to heart talk with yourself about some unresolved bitterness or unforgiveness…. and may I offer these few passages to help you in your recovery; **Colossians 3:13, Mark 11:25, Matthew 6:14, and Ephesians 4: 31,32 to name a few.
You may be quite surprised to see your health issue improve.
God bless,
DrB
References:
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11037954/
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0145213421003914#preview-section-abstract
webmd.com/balance/stress-management/features/how-anger-hurts-your-heart
ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/01.CIR.101.17.2034
diabetes.co.uk/emotions/diabetes-and-anger.html
**The New American Standard Bible
