Subscribe to our newsletter. Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon portrayed widower neighbors whose anger, depression and overall meanness seemed to be the secret potion to longevity. This has always been a popular theme in movies, the character who survives because they are just too mean to die. Studies have shown that depression and anger can point to an increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke. In one study from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers decided to assess signs of depression, or what they called negative effect separately from signs of emotional well-being, or as they termed it positive effect.
Happiness appears to have a protective effect when it comes to health.
During the study over 4000 subjects, men and women, a mix of black and white were evaluated for positive or negative affect by answering yes or no to 20 statements made by the interviewers. Those study participants who answered yes to the positive statements had a showed decreased risk of stroke over the six years of the study, with the results being dramatically increased for the men who participated in the study. No, that is not likely. What is more likely is that being unhappy leads to following an unhealthy lifestyle. Another study done at the University of Pittsburgh indicated the a women who are depressed and angry are more likely to have hardening of the arteries or arteriosclerosis, and are also more likely to have a lifestyle that leads to arteriosclerosis.