An Editorial and Explanation by Abigail Horwitt

According to my classmates, I am known to hate people. I wouldn’t say it’s something to be proud of, but it is something normal among people. Let me explain the reasons behind why people enjoy hating other people. 

First of all, what is hate? According to medicine.net, “Hate is the feeling of intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or a sense of injury.” Enough hatred towards a person can lead to hurting them, or even yourself.  Everyone has gone through uncomfortable hatred at some point, either after being betrayed, or hurt physically or emotionally. Yes, it is normal to have hateful thoughts sometimes, but having the feeling of hatred build up for a certain period of time can mess with your mind and body. It can also bring out more negative thoughts and feelings which can affect personal and general relationships. On the other hand, hatred can change the chemistry inside your brain by stimulating the area in your brain that is responsible for planning and putting actions into motion (medicine.net). This part of your brain will trigger aggression, causing you to either defend or attack. While that is happening, your brain will increase two of your hormones called cortisol and adrenaline which can cause things like weight gain, insomnia, anxiety, depression, and other chronic illnesses (medicine.net). The feeling of hate can further trigger anxiety, restlessness, overthinking, and paranoia. Very often your brain will try and predict what the person you hate might say to defend themselves against you. Overall, hatred can take a major toll on your mind and body, to the point where if you hate for too long, it could completely affect and hurt your mental health. Your body’s nervous system, immune system, and endocrine system are also negatively affected by hating someone. Having these extreme emotions can also trigger the release of stress hormones in your brain, and over time the stress hormones can cause inflammation throughout your body that can result in serious health consequences (medicine.net). The more intense your emotions become and the more you hold on to the hatred the more it affects your body. 

Love isn’t actually the opposite of hate. Love is the feeling of deep affection towards someone. The actual opposite of hate is mental and emotional indifference. Why? The reason for hate not being the opposite of love is because hatred is a form of attachment to the thing or person you hate the most. Instead of affection towards someone, the feeling of hate can falsely inflate the ego and creates a false sense of superiority and self-righteousness against the thing or person who is hated (medicine.net). What makes you feel better about hating?

Finding someone to hate with you.

The Science of People site asks, is the cliché true that “No bond is stronger than two people who hate the same person?” (scienceofpeople.com). Research out of the University of South Florida has discovered that people who are able to share their negative feelings towards someone compared to those who share positive feelings are more likely to form a stronger bond. So, that cliche does actually have some truth to it.

Even though hatred is socially unacceptable on most occasions, it’s natural; we’ve all felt it. Careful: hatred can be intoxicating. When we hate enough to share our strong feelings, we often find like minds, and people bond–but not in a necessarily healthy way (scienceofpeople.com).

Medicine.net recommends we acknowledge our feelings of hatred and find a solution to the problem; bring down our blood pressure; understand the root cause of our hate; and do something about it. Very often, the root of hatred is insecurity and mistrust. So, build and gather the tools you need to strengthen.