{"id":5942,"date":"2018-04-11T12:00:35","date_gmt":"2018-04-11T16:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/?p=5942"},"modified":"2019-06-04T14:28:52","modified_gmt":"2019-06-04T18:28:52","slug":"when-its-okay-to-be-type-a-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=5942","title":{"rendered":"When It’s Okay To Be Type-A"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\"\"I feel like I need to go to meetings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Hello, my name is Will”.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[in unison] “Hello Will.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“It’s been two weeks since my last workaholic\u202fepisode, my phone is no longer physically plugged into my umbilical cord, and I don’t hyperventilate until I pass out\u00a0when\u00a0I\u00a0take an entire\u00a0day off.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[polite applause] I nod. Smile meekly but appreciatively, and sit back down.\u202f\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, I am that person. The one who works all the time. And I know how that seems like I’m\u00a0a\u00a0tortured soul\u202fwith a one-dimensional life, but that’s not actually true. And I also know that this\u00a0article\u00a0is going to sound a bit like a rationalization for\u00a0an\u00a0obvious mental disorder, but it also isn’t.\u202f\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Where\u00a0<\/b>The\u00a0<\/b>Concern Comes From<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Type-A behavior pattern\u202fis defined as\u202fa\u202ftemperament with\u202fexcessive ambition, aggression, competitiveness, drive, impatience, need for control, and unrealistic sense of urgency.\u202fThese are the overachievers who just cannot get themselves to sit down and chill\u00a0out\u00a0for a second.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s also commonly stated that this pattern of behavior can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.\u00a0In fact,\u00a0this WebMD article<\/a>\u00a0is explicit: \u201cType A Triggers Heart Disease\u201d.\u00a0Nothing equivocal about that. And if you\u2019re a competitive person, or someone driven to succeed, you might read this and think that these tendencies will be the death of you.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However,\u00a0although it’s true that the Type-A personality profile is more prone to cardiovascular\u202fdisease and death, it’s also\u202fcompletely misleading. Type A behavior has\u00a0many traits associated it (seven of them, based on the list above).\u00a0And the\u00a0uber\u00a0anal-retentive fact-finding obsessives like me will doubtless ask which one of these traits is most responsible, or whether it is the combination of those traits, or perhaps a subset of those traits.\u202fHuh? Huh?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It turns out that there is hope for my people.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Type-A personality is to heart disease … as coffee is to cancer \u202f<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Several decades ago, researchers discovered that those people who drink coffee also have a greater risk of getting cancer. As a result, these two factors were linked\u00a0and we were burdened with an incorrect assumption: coffee consumption increases the risk of cancer.\u202f\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The problem\u00a0with this conclusion \u2013 in addition\u00a0coffee-deprived\u00a0mornings \u2013 was\u00a0that\u202fthose who drank coffee also tended to smoke. In other words, many variables were associated with coffee consumption and only one of them was actually responsible\u00a0an\u00a0increased risk of cancer\u00a0(smoking).\u00a0That means all the\u00a0other variables associated with coffee consumption \u2013 like actually drinking coffee \u2013 are not related an increasing risk of cancer at all.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a totally rookie science error.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The same\u00a0basic problem\u00a0seems to be\u00a0at play in\u00a0the\u00a0link\u00a0between the Type-A personality and cardiovascular disease. Of\u00a0the seven different traits all\u00a0assigned to\u00a0this\u00a0personality type, it turns out that only a couple of them contribute to heart problems.\u00a0\u00a0And the question really is, which trait is contributing to heart problems?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Anger and Hostility<\/b>\u00a0Are Not Your Friend<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hostility itself is a well-established\u00a0risk factor for heart disease<\/a>, all on its own.\u00a0\u00a0This effect held\u00a0up<\/a>\u00a0for healthy people as well as those who have had prior cardiovascular problems.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is supported by the\u00a0Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study. A total of 3308 adults aged 18 to 30 years from 4 US metropolitan areas were followed up on over 15 years. Researchers wanted to discover\u00a0which of the traits (time urgency\/impatience (TUI), achievement striving\/competitiveness (ASC), hostility, depression, and\/or\u00a0anxiety)\u00a0were associated with hypertension.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They found that achievement, striving, and competitiveness \u2013 all classic hallmarks of a Type-A person\u00a0\u2013 were\u00a0not related to hypertension at all. However, the traits of\u00a0impatience and\u00a0hostility<\/a>\u00a0were related in a dose-dependent manner.\u00a0In other words, the higher the hostility and impatience, the higher the risk of hypertension.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The message seems to be that being a hypermotivated\u00a0slacker-annoying\u00a0overachiever is irrelevant to your cardiovascular health. It\u2019s neither here nor there\u00a0(one less thing to micromanage, right?).\u00a0So go ahead and achieve away. Have a good time running through your infinite do-loop of tasks.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What does matter is whether you carry yourself through this life with anger and hostility, or\u00a0live through more positive emotions.\u00a0And this distinction seems to be the case no matter where you are on the scale,\u00a0from busy bee to beach bum.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I feel like I need to go to meetings.\u00a0 “Hello, my name is Will”.\u00a0 [in unison] “Hello Will.”\u00a0 “It’s been two weeks since my last workaholic\u202fepisode, my phone is no … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/iStock-926231686.jpg?fit=1731%2C1155&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Qv5g-1xQ","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2809,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2809","url_meta":{"origin":5942,"position":0},"title":"Welcome to our Blog!!","author":"Will Clower","date":"July 19, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Hello everyone!! \u00a0 We have a new space for us to think out loud together, rant and rave (with taste!), and give your thoughts on good food and good health. \u00a0 So reply to these blog lines and keep the conversation going! \u00a0 Will \u00a0 \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2427,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2427","url_meta":{"origin":5942,"position":1},"title":"Yesterdays News","author":"Will Clower","date":"March 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi everyone,Here is the link to the live Webcam. I'm going to do this daily, at 5:00pm to talk about the day's roundup of health news.Come by, say hello, and chat with me at 5:00.For more information: Click here to visit Will Clower's website.","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bookmark and Share","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/s7.addthis.com\/static\/btn\/v2\/lg-share-en.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2761,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2761","url_meta":{"origin":5942,"position":2},"title":"Sailing","author":"Will Clower","date":"June 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Hello everyone!! I am very excited to go on my sailing vacation next week. If the technology spirits of the Ether are kind to us, I will be able to post to you from this Bberry device. Have a wonderful week, and I'll talk to you soon!! WillSent via BlackBerry\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Sailing Diary 2008\"","block_context":{"text":"Sailing Diary 2008","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?tag=sailing-diary-2008"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2479,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2479","url_meta":{"origin":5942,"position":3},"title":"Fructose Drinks — What You Already Know","author":"Will Clower","date":"November 10, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Experimental chipmunks were made to drink Coca-Cola from a straw ....Just kidding. That's not the research study. Although, you know what's funny, is that IF I said that there were some research design that did this, we wouldn't doubt it!! Back to reality. What researchers actually did show in this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bookmark and Share","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/s7.addthis.com\/static\/btn\/v2\/lg-share-en.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2363,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2363","url_meta":{"origin":5942,"position":4},"title":"What Pets Can Teach Us About Marriage","author":"Will Clower","date":"June 11, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Okay, I know. This is not about \"nutritional\" health or \"physical\" health, but more about the day to day emotional health that can, in turn, cascade into longer term health problems. At the very least, this provides some food for thought (so to speak!). Dr. Suzanne Phillips suggests we can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bookmark and Share","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/s7.addthis.com\/static\/btn\/v2\/lg-share-en.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1851,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=1851","url_meta":{"origin":5942,"position":5},"title":"When It’s Okay, To Be Type-A","author":"Will Clower","date":"January 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I admit it: I\u2019m \"Type-A.\" In fact, sometimes I feel like I need to go to meetings: \"Hello, my name is Will.\" [in unison] \"Hello, Will.\" \"It's been two weeks since my last workaholic episode, my phone is no longer physically plugged into my umbilical cord, and I don't hyperventilate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"typea_woman","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/typeA_woman-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5942"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7424,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5942\/revisions\/7424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}