The effect on serotonin levels generates an increase of anger, emotional pain, anxiety, and depression. The long-term effects of these triggers are known to many of us. Stress hormones increase our heart rate, blood pressure, arterial tension, blood glucose levels and thyroid function.
Effects of Bitterness
However, we may be unaware of how bitterness is affecting us physically and emotionally. The cause of anxiety, depression, and other illnesses may be unresolved bitterness. Sadly, the person who is bitter and resentful is also repelling people at a time when they may need them most.
Emotions of anger and resentment are often held in our jaw and around the mouth. If you often have a sore throat, mouth ulcers or grind your teeth at night, it could be a sign that there is an excess of overactive or stagnant energy in this part of your body.
As Linden's research shows, bitterness can lead to long term psychological distress. It affects everything from your sleeping patterns, appetite, and sex drive.
Bitterness starts when we cling to anger and resentment and start holding a grudge. Instead of responding with forgiveness or love, we may let our negative emotions grow and treat others with passive-aggressive behavior, hostility or disdain.
Let go of grudges, and simply forgive.
One thing you have to do if you want to let go of bitterness is learn to forgive consistently, and without conditions. Most of us think that forgiving someone excuses the person in the wrong, but that is not necessarily the case.
Chronic anger puts you into a fight-or-flight mode, which results in numerous changes in heart rate, blood pressure and immune response. Those changes, then, increase the risk of depression, heart disease and diabetes, among other conditions. Forgiveness, however, calms stress levels, leading to improved health.
Anger is the emotion of the liver and the gallbladder, organs associated with the wood element. Emotions like rage, fury or aggravation can indicate that this energy is in excess, and when we experience these emotions consistently, our liver can get damaged. At this point, headaches or dizziness can be common.
Fear & The Kidneys
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the kidney is the organ system that rules bones, teeth and hair and the mental-emotional component of the kidney is fear.
Trauma is not physically held in the muscles or bones — instead, the need to protect oneself from perceived threats is stored in the memory and emotional centers of the brain, such as the hippocampus and amygdala. This activates the body whenever a situation reminds the person of the traumatic event(s).
The act of forgiveness then delivers tangible, structural changes in the brain and body as neural networks that control stress, pain and awareness of threat – all, processes that increase stress hormones in the body and negatively impact physical and mental health, are dialled down.
Hebrews 12:15 made the subject of bitterness clearer: “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that 'no root of bitterness' springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.”
Guilt, Fishkin says, is associated with activity in the prefrontal cortex, the logical-thinking part of the brain. Guilt can also trigger activity in the limbic system. (That's why it can feel so anxiety-provoking.)
Emotions like rage, fury or aggravation can indicate that the liver energy is out of balance. When we experience these emotions frequently over time, our Liver energy can suffer. An imbalanced Liver can be caused by longstanding feelings of repressed anger, such as resentment, frustration, and irritability.
Anger and suppressed rage are often stored in the buttocks. Pay attention next time you feel your head boil: is your but tensing up as well?
Negative Effects of Unforgiveness
Unforgiveness also creates a hardened heart. The hardened heart feels anger, resentment, bitterness, and hatred toward the offender.
Unforgiveness will imprison you in your past.
Unforgiveness keeps that pain alive. Unforgiveness never lets that wound heal, and you go through life reminding yourself of what was done to you, stirring up that pain and making yourself progressively angrier. You go through life accumulating bad feelings.
Cancer. Cancer refers to the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body. This can affect almost any organ or tissue including lungs, breast, colon, skin and ovaries. Due to the complexity of the disease and the variety of forms it can take, developing a cure has proven difficult.
Respond rather than react
Try to avoid becoming angry or agitated during the interaction. Instead, try to respond with empathy and care. This will show the person that you hear what they're saying, understand their point of view, and reaffirm that their feelings are valid.
There is no one cause of resentment, but most cases involve an underlying sense of being mistreated or wronged by another person. Experiencing frustration and disappointment is a normal part of life. When the feelings become too overwhelming, they can contribute to resentment.
Sometimes, holding grudges—and blaming others—may be a form of self-protection. In the same vein, some people may be more cognizant that they are stoking feelings of bitterness than others, who may be unaware of the role they play in keeping their anger alive.