त्रिविधं नरकस्येदं द्वारं नाशनमात्मनः।
कामः क्रोधस्तथा लोभस्तस्मादेतत्त्रयं त्यजेत्।।16.21।।

Desire, wrath and greed – this is the triple gateway to Naraka,
ruinous to the self. Therefore one should abandon these three. – Shrimad Bhagwad Gita 16:21

Our ancestors might have been on to something when they spoke about avoiding emotional excess. Smoking, drinking, pollutants, and chemical traces in food can make you very sick. Everyone knows that. We are aware of radiation from gadgets and take care while using any for sustained periods of time.

Not managing to blow your head might help in maintaining peace on the work floor and keep things calm at home. However, it doesn’t exactly work as well for your body. What about the poison in the form of negative and suppressed emotions that we harbour in our bodies?

Living in a condition of sustained stress causes a flight or flight response in one’s body which can wreck havoc for brain chemicals that regulate happiness and skew hormonal balance. Apart from this, stress makes you grey and age faster.  

People with anger issues are more likely to suffer from hyper-tension, anxiety, heart-diseases, digestive issues, and have greater susceptibility to infections and increased inflammation in the body.

Positive emotions lead to emotional resilience, writes Karen Lawson, MD, University of Minnesota. Forgiveness and gratitude can help one let go of negativity and foster positivity.

“Resilient people are able to experience tough emotions like pain, sorrow, frustration, and grief without falling apart. Resilient people do not deny the pain or suffering they are experiencing; rather, they retain a sense of positivity that helps them overcome the negative effects of their situation. In fact, some people are able to look at challenging times with optimism and hope, knowing that their hardships will lead to personal growth and an expanded outlook on life,” Lawson writes.

Holding onto any negative emotion for long can develop into a disorder. For example, grief is an emotion anyone who has reached adult age has likely experienced. Grief is our reaction to the loss of a loved one, a pet, or any other life changing event that affects us adversely. However, if grief persists beyond a normal duration it can impact one profoundly both mentally and physically.

Grief on losing a loved one can lower ones anti-viral defence system that can leave your body more susceptible to viral infections, writes UCLAhealth, citing the findings of Dr George Slavich, director of the Laboratory for Stress Assessment and Research, UCLA. This leads to inflammation levels shooting up which in turn can cause one to feel sick, “fatigue, loss of pleasure, and social and behavioral withdrawal”.

These symptoms can be a sign of “prolonged grief” when “persisting beyond 6 months”. This condition, in turn, can lead to heightened risk of cancer and early death.

While emotional regulation is a central concept in psychology, the Bhagwad Gita warns us about Raag and Dwesh (strong attachment and dislike) as that is likely to bestow a karmic quality to our actions. Only one who performs his actions detached from Raag and Dwesh can attain true happiness.