Are you angry?

ARE YOU ANGRY??

A friend of mine is very short tempered. He shouts at his friends and family members with slightest of provocation. Nobody likes him in his workplace. His colleagues, seniors and subordinates hate him for his quick temper. He has been unstable in his career as he is not able to stay long with one company. 

Anger is an intrinsic human trait that we need to curtail for our own good.
It temporarily blinds the mind and has innumerable negative repercussions. Road rage cases are rising as people have lost patience and anger takes over immediately with little provocation. We tend to break our cordial relationships with friends and family members because of uncontrolled anger.

 

Studies have shown that the effects of anger on body can get adverse and long lasting. Some studies point to affects like depression, heart disease, high blood pressure etc.

Let’s try and examine some of the causes of anger:

According to minds.org.uk

“Feelings of anger arise due to how we interpret and react to certain situations. Everyone has their own triggers for what makes them angry, but some common ones include situations in which we feel: threatened or attacked. Frustrated or powerless.”

So, when we feel threatened with words, actions or certain situations we get angry. Also when we are powerless to deal with the situation we get angry.  It is strange to know that sometimes one acquires anger as a family trait. 

photo: freeimages

Can anger be managed?

There are techniques available with the therapists for anger management. 

Some of them are:

1.     Try and understand the warning signs of anger. Moment the signs are obvious, one can apply the following-

a.      Counting 1 to 10 before reacting

b.     Walk out of the situation and buy time

c.      Talk to a trusted friend about the situation

2.     Some popular techniques to manage feelings are the following-

a.      Slow breathing

b.     Relaxing the body

c.      Distracting mind to some activity one likes doing such as swimming, playing game, dancing, taking a shower etc

3.     Some techniques that help anger management in the long term are the  following-

a.      Avoiding drugs or alcohol

b.     Exercising regularly

c.      Having a good night’s sleep

d.     Learning to handle pressure

e.      Developing emotional resilience

4.     One can always visit a psychotherapist for help or participate in some anger management programmes-

Anger and its management are not as simple as it is appearing in the blog. It requires serious approach and practice. It is one of the biggest negative emotions that affect many of us. However, we do not attempt to understand our condition and work towards it.