What is anger?
Anger is an intense emotion felt toward a person or yourself in a situation whereby you have been deliberately wronged by them. It gives room for the expression of other negative emotions and sometimes, aggressive behavior. Anger is a normal response to unfair situations. However, when it becomes excessive, the person is said to have anger issues.
Anger becomes a disorder when it can no longer be controlled and it occurs randomly even when there is no reason to be having a temper.
Causes of Anger Issues
Various things can trigger anger. Anger can be influenced by both internal (i.e underlying disorders) and external factors.
Some internal factors that can cause anger are:
- Some mental disorders like bipolar disorder that is associated with constant mood swings for unknown reasons. This disorder can result in anger, high energy, unhealthy sleep patterns, and depressive episodes. When people with this disorder are having their episodes, they get easily agitated and can engage in impulsive and explosive behavior.
- Behavioral disorders include Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), which is characterized by disrespect for those in positions of authority or who ought to be respected. Anger, a quick temper, and irritability are signs of this disease. Things easily irritate them.
- Anger might also result from depression. One of the signs of depression is anger, which is defined by a pervasive sense of melancholy that can last for a very long time without any apparent cause.
- Substance Use: Use of drugs or excessive consumption of alcohol can induce uncontrollable anger within the consumer as they impair the ability of the consumer to have any control of their minds or make rational choices. For these people, it can be difficult for them to control their emotions.
- Anxiety Disorder like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder(OCD) involves several compulsive thoughts and behavior that can contribute to anger.
- Grief can also lead to anger. The five stages of mourning include denial, anger, bargaining, sadness, and acceptance. In the second stage, which is called rage, the bereaved begin to feel angry against themselves, other people, and even inanimate objects.
External factors are those that are influenced by some environmental factors and these include:
- Financial problems: People with money issues can have a high temper due to anxiety over their condition and worrying about how to solve their financial problems. They are likely to be high-tempered when addressing minor issues around them.
- Family or work issues can also contribute to how much people get angry and how they react when they are angry.
- Anxiety: High anxiety levels can breed angry emotions within a person either towards themselves or others.
Anger Symptoms
Some amount of temper is okay but there is a point where it becomes unhealthy. If you are experiencing any of these anger issues symptoms, you might need to seek medical help.
Among other things, emotional symptoms can include the following:
- whenever you’re upset, you feel the need to physically or verbally harm other people
- You become mad over the smallest things, sometimes for no apparent reason, but you are powerless over them.
- You feel instant remorse or regret, at the things you said or did while you were angry, afterward
- Rage at every slight remark, comment, or situation.
- Overwhelming and frustrating feelings at all times.
- Inability to calm your anger even if you want to.
Some physical symptoms include:
- Increase in blood pressure and heart rate
- Muscle tension
Types of anger disorders
- Passive anger
- Open anger
- Assertive anger
Passive anger is one of the types of anger disorder that is characterized by an unwillingness to admit anger. People with passive anger prefer to remain silent when angry or use subtle, indirect means to express their anger. They’d procrastinate addressing the issue and pretend to be fine or leave rude, indirect remarks. This type of anger is fueled by a need to be in charge of people. People with passive anger tend to transfer the aggression to themselves.
Open anger could be the most dangerous among the types of anger disorders. These people express anger in a more explosive way. They lash out their anger abusively through words or physically. They fight, shout, bully and threaten others when they are angry. This also stemmed from the need to be in charge.
Assertive anger is a healthy type of anger. It is staying calm in, being in control of one’s temper, and avoiding rude remarks when angry. Unlike passive anger, assertive anger is thinking and speaking confidently when addressing the situation and unlike open anger, it involves being patient and keeping a calm and steady voice when communicating.
How to deal with anger issues?
- Identifying solutions
Focusing on the problem when you are angry will only fuel it more instead of putting effort into exaggerating the problem, try to fix it.
2. Do not hold grudges
The more you learn to forgive, the less angry you will get; holding into hold fights or conflicts will only worsen your anger issues
3. Being humorous
Whenever you realize you are in a tense situation, try to put in a little bit of a joke to create an environment that will be more friendly and allow you to see past the problems at hand.
- Take a break: If you are in a heated argument with someone or you are in a situation that is beginning to fuel anger within you, walking away from the scene will help you a lot. First, you will be able to relax a bit and secondly, you will have enough time to access the situation and come up with a less explosive way to handle it.
- Exercise: Physical movement has been proven to be of great help in managing anger issues. Being physically active releases a stress hormone known as endorphins. Short walking might be all you need to let go of the negative emotions building up.
- Seek medical help: With all that has been mentioned, it is also important to know when to get help. Seeking professional care from a psychologist might be your best bet at having control over your angry emotions. The most common treatment is therapy.
How to Release Anger?
- Walk or perform a brief exercise.
- Any physical source of your anger should be destroyed safely.
- A reliable method of controlling anger is journaling. Writing out your feelings will allow you to relax your thoughts a little.
- Change your environment. Environmental factors contribute highly to how we feel, changing one’s surroundings can help reduce the chances of getting negative emotions. Changing your environment could be as little as taking a walk away from an argument or as high as taking a vacation to somewhere totally different.
- Venting to a friend about your anger can help you release steam.
Conclusion
Even though anger is described as a negative emotion, it happens to be a good way of expressing one’s self in negative situations. However, it should not be excessive and one should be able to stay in control of one’s emotions. It is also important to know when you have anger issues and to seek medical help like therapy.
