Anger is an instinctive human emotion, triggered when you are being blocked in your goals or your beliefs are under threat. Anger ranges from annoyance to deep rage, manifested in body and mind and filtered through the soul.
What anger really means
Anger is natural, it means that your subconscious self Is giving you a warning sign that something is not ‘OK’. Anger can drive you to take positive action or can be destructive. Being debased, bullying, witnessing violence to loved ones, experiencing violence against you, sets off your anger impulse. Anger such as that of human rights activists against injustice can lead to positive change for society. Anger purely based on the personal ‘ego’ when all others are perceived as wrong regardless of the circumstances can be interpreted as arrogance. When out of control, anger can be dangerous, destructive to yourself and to others.
What does anger do to your body and mind
Anger causes a heart rate increase and tense muscles creating an energy surge in your body. The adrenal glands produce stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol). You could feel sick. The brain is activated in the right hippocampus, the amygdala, both sides of the prefrontal cortex and the insular cortex. Your logical thought process is momentarily hijacked. This is because, in anger, you are triggered into a ‘fight or flight’ response. A prolonged state of anger with elevated stress hormones can eventually damage your body.
How to control anger
The best way to channel your anger is to burn off the stress hormones through action or distraction. Aggressive action against others creates more harm than good and can cause a counter reaction. Channeling anger through body action such as sport or dancing or even throwing something is a more positive action to take. Shouting (in private) or singing can release the tension in you. If you less inclined to enjoy sport, creativity can help such as listening to music or drawing. Removing yourself from the cause of your anger and deep breathing will help gain time while your ‘fight or flight’ response calms down and logical thinking returns. The more stressed you are, the more likely you are to overreact to an anger signal. Anger management is a skill that can be trained.
What are anger issues
Instinctive emotions are universal to all humans across cultures and education but the experience and intensity of the emotion is highly subjective. How deeply you feel anger is personal to you. Some signs that you may have an issue is that you are always angry, notice that even little things make you angry, feel that you are out of control, you are hurting others verbally or physically, you regret what you have said or done.
What if you are being blamed for someone else’s anger
When someone else is angry at you, you may feel that you are being blamed unfairly. When sure that your own words and actions are reasonable, setting clear boundaries for yourself is important. Understanding that you do not need to accept aggression from others and explaining this to the other person in ‘I’ terms can help diffuse the situation. You may find that you need to remove yourself from the situation, particularly if it gets dangerous to your body and mind.
Anger arises when our goals or beliefs are blocked.
Anger is a basic human emotion triggered when our goals or beliefs are blocked. We all feel it, wherever we come from. For a happy balanced life, the first step is to understand our emotions, our triggers, practical steps to take in order to avoid destructive situations.
For more information about Anger you might be interested in these other articles:
What is Anger? Understanding Anger/Anger Explained
How does anger effect the body?
How does anger affect the mind?
How does anger affect the soul?
What hormones are connected to anger?
