Anger is an emotion most of the time a negative emotion towards someone or something. But this is not always the case, people feel angry with themselves. Anger has various manifestations and different individual has distinct way to show their anger. It can be through silence, words, or even verbal abuse, physical violence to things around, and in extreme cases self harm too.
Note that anger is not always bad, sometimes being angry is helpful. It helps you to vent out your emotions which can further cause mental stress. Anger can result in a sudden shooting of blood pressure, hormones, chances of anxiety, etc.
Many confuse the terms anger and aggression. Well, these two words have distinct meanings. But they are not opposite, instead, they go hand in hand. Let us see its meaning-
Anger- It is the feeling of displeasure and negative emotions often resulting in frustration, irritation, and even harm to someone or something.
Aggression– It is the first act of hostility or injury.
What causes anger?
Anger is a feeling of hostility, displeasure, or annoyance. It can be associated with various reasons. Aristotle said, “ The man who is angry at the right people, and, further, as he ought when he ought, and as long as he ought is praised.” By this, he meant that anger is right when against some injustice or wrong. But extreme anger is bad. Although some anger is necessary for survival, it can also become a problem when you have trouble controlling it. Uncontrolled anger is bad for your physical and mental health. It can also quickly escalate to verbal or physical violence, harming you and those around you.
Moving forward, anger has various causes-
For some people, anger is caused by underlying disorders such as alcoholism or depression. Anger itself isn’t considered a disorder but a symptom of many mental health conditions.
Depression
Anger can be a symptom of depression, which can be characterized as a loss of interest or an ongoing feeling of sadness. The intensity of the anger and how it’s expressed varies from person to person.
Anxiety disorder
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) or anxiety disorder is characterized by obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviour. A person with OCD has unwanted, disturbing thoughts, urges, or images that drive them to do something repetitively.
Alcohol Abuse
Drinking alcohol increases aggression. Alcohol is a contributing factor in approximately half of all violent crimes.
Alcoholism refers to consuming too much alcohol at once or regularly. Alcohol impairs your ability to think clearly and make rational decisions. It affects your impulse control and can make it harder for you to control your emotions.
Grief
Anger is one of the stages of grief. Grief can come from the death of a loved one, a divorce or breakup, or losing a job. The anger may be directed at the person who died, anyone else involved in the event, or inanimate objects.
What is anger management?
Anger is a normal feeling that everyone goes through on daily basis. But an extreme form of anger is not suitable for you or the people around you. Different people have different ways to express themselves. Hence, anger is such a strong emotion that you can not hide it for long, it will vent out in one form or another. The extreme case can be physical harm to oneself or others.
So to avoid such situations of malicious anger burst, anger management is the go-to technique. Anger Management is the self-healing technique used to control the anger-causing triggers and their effects. It helps you to improve self-control, as well as provides a way to express your emotions gently. You can even consult a counsellor for managing stress.
Some common anger management techniques are- yoga, meditation, exercising, talking, proper sleep, etc. Our next section of the blog will deal with steam management tips in detail.
How to manage anger | Anger management tips
First of all, anger is not a lousy emotion. Anger can help you to be honest and who you actually are. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with feeling angry. What matters is how you manage your anger. So, if you want some easy-peasy anger management tips, keep reading this blog till the end.
Understand the physiological signs of your anger
First things first, you need to understand the signs of anger. Anger is a type of psychological emotion, but in some sense it is also physiological, involving some chemical reactions in your brain. When we get angry, our amygdala, the centre for emotional processing, sends some distressing signals to our brain, which leads to the pumping of adrenaline throughout the body. The adrenaline gets our body ready to meet a threat and might increase the heart rate as well.
Take control of your emotion
Anger often masks another emotion; many times, anger is a secondary emotion to hurt, sadness, grief, depression, or fear. Anger emerges as almost a defence mechanism because it is easier for many people to deal with than other emotions. Think about whether you allow yourself to feel a wide range of emotions or if you may be suppressing emotions that you think you “shouldn’t” or “aren’t allowed” to feel.
If you commonly substitute anger for other emotions that you find more difficult to deal with, consider seeing a therapist learn how to handle and accept those emotions.
Accept the fact that anger can be normal
Whether you agree with us or not, anger is not always a bad thing. As mentioned at the being of the article, anger can serve a healthy purpose as well by protecting you from continued abuse or wrongdoing. If you think that something is harming you, you are likely to become angry, and that anger will further protect you from getting hurt further, and most importantly it will prompt you to confront the person or end the harm in another way.
Some people are taught that it is not good to feel or express your anger all the time. To some extent, those people are right. However, suppressing natural feelings of anger can have negative effects on your emotions and most importantly on your relationships with others. In case, you are worried about hurting someone’s feelings, be polite or a bit easy on your anger.
Engage in releasing your anger
One of the best tips on how to manage anger is to engage in any kind of physical activity.
The endorphins that come from physical acidity can surely help you to calm down. Also, moving the body parts provides a physical gateway to your rage. In this way, physical exercise can help you control your anger at the moment.
However, maintaining a regular exercise schedule can also help you regulate your emotions in general. While you exercise, focus on thinking about the exercise and your body, not what has been on your mind lately.
Some forms of exercise that might appeal to you and help you control your anger include:
- Running/Jogging
- Weight training
- Cycling
- Yoga
- Basketball
- Martial arts
- Swimming
Get enough sleep
Another important tip for anger management is to get enough sound sleep. An average adult needs 7-8 hours of sleep per night to thrive. Being sleep-deprived can lead to a wide range of mental as well as physical health problems including the inability to manage emotions properly. On the other hand, Getting adequate sleep can improve your mood and lessen your anger.
If you have chronic sleep problems, consult your physician. You may be able to make dietary or lifestyle changes to improve your sleep. You may also be able to try herbal or medicinal supplements to sleep more.
Create an anger journal
Begin writing down details about your anger. If you have an episode or event in which you lost control of your emotions, write it down. Be sure to include exactly how you felt, what caused you to be angry, where you were, who you were with, how you reacted, and how you felt afterwards. After you have kept your journal for a while, you should begin to look for commonalities among entries to identify the people, places, or things that trigger your anger.