TRATEGIES FOR CHANGING TYPE A PATTERNS: IS IT POSSIBLE TO CHANGE?
Before you can begin changing Type A reactivity you have to answer three questions. The first question is whether changing is really necessary. Second is whether changing is even possible for a Type A individual. The last is whether you are really willing to commit to changing.
Why change? Ask your spouse, your family, or your doctor. If their reactions are not convincing, remember these two documented facts: (1) People who have poor social support systems are two to three times more likely to die from any cause, including heart disease, than people who have close social networks; and (2) research has clearly shown that Type A cardiac patients who undergo a comprehensive behavior modification program after a cardiovascular incident are nearly 400 percent less likely to have another cardiac event during the next three years than are Type A's who do not modify their behavior. (That's right: 400 percent.)
Is it really possible to change Type A reactivity? Without a doubt, many aspects of Type A pattern can be modified. Meyer Friedman and his associates have completed an extensive study that addressed this very question. Their research yielded the statistic just quoted, about the advisability of modifying Type A behavior to survive heart disease. These researchers studied and treated approximately one thousand Type A heart attack patients and documented remarkable changes in multiple indicators of Type A reactivity among patients who underwent a behavior modification program. These changes were measured by objective observation of Type A behaviors, by patient self-reports on their own behavioral and emotional experiences, by standard psychological questionnaires, and by observations documented by the patients' spouses. I refer you to the summary of this research published by Friedman and Ulmer for further convincing information that Type A reactivity is indeed largely changeable.
A word of caution is in order, however. Some aspects of Type A coping may not be easily modified. The extreme physiological reactivity of the hot reactor Type A pattern, for example, may occur reflexively in some situations, but this is no reason to assume that you cannot drastically lessen the negative effect of such reactions on your life and your health. If you surround such physical reactions with more effective behavioral and cognitive coping strategies, then the net negative effect of that hot physiological reaction on your health and on your quality of life will be significantly diminished.
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