The No. 1 Emotion That Kills People

Fear: The Peak of Acute Destruction

An instant state of emergency in the body
The moment you feel fear, adrenaline surges, your heart rate shoots up, and your body switches into "fight or flight" mode. In the process the immune system is temporarily shut down, and over the long term the body can end up attacking itself or falling into severe inflammation.

Despair: The Slow Extinguishing of Life Force

A heavy sinking that takes away your reason to exist
Despair, on the other hand, puts out the flame of life slowly but surely. It goes beyond simply making the body sick — the brain's recovery circuits themselves stop working. When the engine called "a reason to live" shuts off, the machine called the body loses its power and gradually grinds to a halt.

Comparing How These Emotions Destroy

The all-round strongest vs. the life-force collapser
In the end, fear is the "all-round strongest" attacker that overloads and destroys the body's systems, while despair is a "life-force collapse" weapon that rots you from the roots.

Why Caring for Your Heart Matters

The last line of defense for your body
A sick body is often just the result. The cause is frequently these two monsters living deep in the heart.