All human beings experience anger. Some however handle it better than others. Screaming, raging anger is hardly ever an effective way of dealing with emotion; It is almost always destructive. With the correct anger management techniques, it is possible to turn anger into power.
Anger is a very common human emotion. From an evolutionary viewpoint, anger is a very necessary emotion. Getting angry means that adrenaline is released into the body. This adrenaline rush will then give a person strength to handle whatever the challenge they're facing.
In ancient times, anger was necessary to fight against enemies or wild animals. In many ways, anger was vital for survival. Today, anger can be useful when trying to overcome social problems or corporate abuse. However, some forms of anger are no longer socially acceptable. Some anger is out of control and needs to be addressed on a psychological level.
Dealing With Anger
According to the American Psychological Association (APA), anger is generally handled in one of three ways:
- Expressing anger
- Suppressing anger
- Calming anger
Expressing anger means that you lash out; screaming, shouting, or even physically fighting against the thing or person that caused your emotion. This type of public display is generally not socially acceptable, and a person lashing out in this way tends to look foolish at best and pathetic at worst.
Suppressing anger is a little better in terms of public appearance, but not very good for the body or the soul. To suppress anger means that the emotion is not allowed to show. However, anger does not go away; it festers in the heart, eroding the physical and mental well-being of a person. Some effects of this type of suppression can be a general irritability or even a tendency to get ill easily and often. People who frequently suppress their anger tend to be chronically grumpy or irritable.
Finally, calming anger is by far the best way of dealing with volatile emotions. Persons who calm their anger acknowledge the emotion, but also concentrate on calming its physical effects. According to the APA, people who handle anger in this way control both their behavior and the way they feel internally. They take steps to lower their heart rate and dissipate the rage they are experiencing.
Steps to Control Rage
The APA suggests the following ways to control angry feelings in an effective and acceptable way:
- Deep Breathing – Breathe in and out from your diaphragm. Empty your lungs completely when breathing out, and fill them to capacity when breathing in.
- Use self-talk to calm yourself – Repeat a word or phrase such as "relax" or "take it easy" in a slow, calm manner.
- Imagery – Visualize a calming place or experience, such as sitting on the beach or looking at a sunset.
- Stretch – Stretch your arms and legs up and outward from your body slowly. This relieves a large amount of physical tension.
When faced with a tense situation, think before you lash out and do before you suppress. Use any or all of the above techniques to defuse your emotion and respond in a proactive way to whatever caused the emotion.
Proactive Anger Management
It is important to remember that you cannot control others or the majority of things that happen to you. Power lies in self-control. Anger is a volatile and frequently destructive emotion, but it can be controlled in ways that will not cause emotional misery or physical illness. Practice anger management techniques daily; soon they will be a natural and even automatic part of a daily strategy to deal with life's challenges.
Read More:
APA Online. "Controlling Anger Before it Controls You." Retrieved from APA.org.
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