There's no doubt negative emotions have a direct and harmful effect on your overall health. Even what most experts would consider a "mild" case of depression can be deadly too.

Patients with a heavy dose of neuroticism, the tendency toward hand-wringing and negative thinking better known as worry, may be responsible for shortening your life if you let it, according to a new study that tracked the overall health of more than 1,600 middle-aged or older men.

Researchers monitored a patient's neuroticism over a dozen years, not only tracking how they felt at the start of the study, but whether these problems got better or worse over time, along with reviewing mortality rates over a longer 18-year stretch. No surprise, men who worried the most also suffered the greatest health problems, increasing their risk of death mainly from heart disease and cancer.

There is a silver lining in all this gloomy news, however. Men who managed to better deal with their emotions over time enjoyed better survival rates comparable to their more stable peers, and that makes great sense considering how happiness can help you beat the common cold. Please be aware you won't find the best and safest solution for taming your emotions in a pill.

One of the best tools you can use to help you tame your stressors and live a longer life too: The Emotional Freedom Technique, the safe and very effective energy psychology tool used daily in my practice.