“How to Recognize and Control YOUR Anger”
Judaism considers anger at the sight of someone wronged holy. Buddhism says that anger is a destructive emotion. Modern psychology views anger as a primary and basic emotion experienced by all humans yet the modern understanding of anger is not much more advanced than that of the time of Aristotle.
Anger is the predominant emotion that takes over when a person makes a conscious choice to take action to immediately stop the threatening behavior of another outside force. Further defined, anger is an attempt to control the actions of another either out of frustration or out of fear that they will not do what we want them to.
Although anger is often seen as a negative emotion, controlled anger is actually a healthy release of emotion. Modern psychology points out that suppression of anger may have harmful effects because anger is a basic and healthy response that enables human beings to deal with outside threats.
Anger can be classified into 2 categories. Deliberate anger is a reaction to a perceived threat by others. Anger can also be considered dispositional and related to character traits and genetics.
There is one more point when it comes to anger that needs to be looked at here. Anger may cause depression in some situations. There is a growing sentiment among experts in the field that depressed people react to stress by turning their anger inward as a response to physical or mental abuse or neglect from parents or others therefore causing their depression.
It is usually easy to tell when someone becomes angry because when one becomes angry their heart rate and blood pressure increase. Often their nostrils flare, their jaw will tighten and their first begin to clench. When the anger is intense enough perspiration will also increase. Tension also increases in the in the torso, including raising of the arms and adopting a squared-off stance, a preparatory action for attack and defense.
The best attempt to control anger should start in childhood because children are more flexible. Adults should begin to take steps to control anger as soon as symptoms appear. For adults as well as children the restructuring of thoughts will help bring a gradual reduction in anger.
Here are some ideas to further control anger
* When you begin to feel angry try relaxation techniques such as deep breathing or relaxing imagery.
* Seek out the support of others. Often just talking out your situation will relieve the anger and make you feel a lot better. One thing that you don’t want to do is keep your anger inside, however make sure that you express it in an appropriate way.
* Learn how to see situations as funny. Instead of getting angry ask yourself “what is funny about his situation that I haven’t noticed before”?
If you feel that your anger is getting out of control seek out a mental health professional. They have many techniques to change your thinking for controlling anger.
The object with any anger management technique is to teach the person to place a new meaning on what is causing their anger.
Anger is a prime and basic emotion that is necessary as an emotional release. Left unchecked however anger can be very destructive. The important thing is that if you feel your anger is getting out of control to take steps to get it under control before you do or say something that you wish that you didn’t.
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August 15th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
I am a very sensitive lad. I was known to have a temper when I was in high school and also in college years. I let my anger out without knowing how to handle them. In the end my anger created dramas. But three years ago, something happened. I finally found out why I was easily upset and weep to tears. It was because I was insecure with myself. So my mentor guided me to overcome my fear and to become secure with myself. It took me almost a year to battle my insecurity. After a year, I managed to secure myself without even realizing it. I no longer have temper whatsoever anymore. I’m still calm and rational when I’m upset. Instead of shouting of anger, I embrace gentle discussion with the person that I’m upset with. Then my mentor told me “JJ, you have changed so much. You have grown up as a mature man now. Furthermore, you are secure with youself.”
Regards,
JJ