Anger Management Anger Management Techniques Anger Management Resources
ANGER MANAGEMENT AND BEYOND
"Anger makes a man open his mouth and close his eyes." This is may be the most memorable line of Dr. Buddy Rydell's (starring Jack Nicholson) to Dave Buznik (starring Adam Sandler) from the movie "Anger Management." More importantly, it is true. We all know that very well. Anger does make us close our eyes and open our mouths. It is an issue we cannot ignore.
1. What is anger?
Generally, anger could be defined as an emotional state, when one feels irritated. That definition, however, is not enough. A more extensive definition would describe anger as an innate technique, with which we react to threats, which also causes significant discomfort. Anger provokes the demonstration of aggressive and violent feelings, with which we react to provocations and which help us defend ourselves when necessary. Therefore, despite the strong psychological discomfort that it causes, it would be hard to define anger as a bad thing. The irony is that in most cases it is dangerous and unhealthy. Quite often anger gets out of proportion and turns into a problem.
It is important to remember that anger is a secondary emotion. That means that almost always it follows another emotion like frustration, disappointment, resentment, jealousy, bitterness or insecurity. All these are emotions we experience every day.
The real problem is that anger impairs perception, and when we perceive things the wrong way, we behave unreasonably. That is why anger is often compared to temporary madness – we don't realize what we say and what we do when we are angry. Anger really does "make a man open his mouth and close his eyes." That, however, does not diminish our responsibility, and therefore, we inevitably face the grave consequences of anger.
Usually anger is provoked by a person or an event – when we come across situations we don't like or we do not agree with. It can be caused also by rumination on personal issues, worries, or emotional suffering.
2. What are the anger effects?
Bottom line is, anger is a normal human reaction, but when it gets out of control (which usually happens) it interferes with our work, relationships and the quality of our lives. It gets in the way of our ability to be happy, because anger and happiness do not coexist.
The aspects of anger, in terms of what it causes to people, are physical, psychological and social.
Anger is a serious emotion and it definitely has an impact on our physical wellbeing. For example, chronic burst-outs lead to increased release of energy hormones (adrenaline and noradrenaline), which leads to increased heart rate, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol levels, as well as increased stress level. It is not hard to guess, that things can escalate to strokes and heart attacks.
Suppressed anger can cause physiological problems such as stress-related headache, cancer, skin disease, high blood pressure, and hypertension, which increases the risk of coronary heart disease in otherwise healthy men and women. With time, it can also lead to mental health problems such as depression, digestive upsets, sleep disturbances, and other stress-related conditions.
One of the most serious results of anger is its influence on our relationships with other people. Where anger dwells, normal relationships cannot flourish. Our loved ones, family members and friends can leave us hurt and estranged by our anger. And when it gets out of control, anger can grow into violence.
Even the suppressed anger, in the end manifests itself in the worst moment in an unhealthy, devastating way. The person cannot hold it up any more and it simply explodes. That inevitably destroys our relationships with others and pushes them away from us.
It is obvious that we cannot afford anger to control us. We have to find a way to deal with it. We need anger management.
3. Anger management.
The main goal of anger management is to decrease the levels of emotions and of the physiological causes that trigger anger, and to facilitate finding healthy ways of expressing it. It is impossible to eliminate completely the feeling of anger and resentment, but if you apply the techniques appropriate for you, you will be able to control and express it in a harmless way. That will certainly improve the quality of your life.
The only healthy way to manage anger is its controlled expression. Often it is hard to apply as it requires a finely balanced act – to meet your own needs without hurting other people. That is difficult, but not impossible! It is important to have the strong resolution to deal with this issue and to find the techniques appropriate for you.
The goal of this site is to help you do this. Therefore, we have developed various resources, which you can use for free. Each one is a different technique that you have to practice. Moreover, they are fun and interesting, which makes their practice even easier. This way you can learn to keep your anger under control. It all begins with determining which anger management techniques are appropriate for you.
Free anger management resources:
Find out which anger management techniques are appropriate for you here!
