Anger Management
Anger Management Therapy
Anger makes you feel as if you are at the mercy of an unpredictable and powerful emotion. All of us have felt anger as a full-fledged rage or as a sudden annoyance. Anger is completely normal, usually a healthy human emotion. But it becomes destructive, when it gets out of control. It can inhibit a person’s work life, personal relationships and overall quality of life.
Understand Anger
Anger, like other emotions, is accompanied by physiological and biological changes. For example, when you get angry, your heart rate and blood pressure increases (Physiological) and levels of your energy hormones, Adrenaline and Non Adrenaline (Biological). A person can become angry due to external and internal events. You may be angry due to your constant worry about your personal problems or may be at a specific person (colleague, boss, family member) or some situation (a delay of flight/train timings). Sometimes anger is triggered due to the memories of past incidents.
Anger is a natural response to threats. It inspires us to fight against the danger or defend ourselves from the danger. Anger, in a certain percentage, is needed for our survival. At the same time, social norms, rules, laws, ethics and common sense irritates us to fix the limits of our anger.
Anger is a natural response to threats. It inspires us to fight against the danger or defend ourselves from the danger. Anger, in a certain percentage, is needed for our survival. At the same time, social norms, rules, laws, ethics and common sense irritates us to fix the limits of our anger.
How do we process anger?
Anger Management
The goal of Anger Management is to reduce both your emotional and physiological arousal that anger causes. You cannot avoid the people or situations that cause anger in you, but you can learn to control your reactions.
Anger can be assessed
There are psychological tests that measure the intensity of anger, how vulnerable you are to anger and how well you are able to handle it.
Symptoms
- Anxiety, irritation, guilt, sadness, resentment
- Need to get away from the situation-preferring to walk away
- Raised voice
- Verbal abusing/using curse words/swearing
- Other type of abuses – hurting others/breaking things/slamming the door/indulging in substance abuse
- Physical reactions
- Increased heart beat
- Irritable, agitated walking
- Squeezing the palms
- Trembling/gasping/shaking
- Perspiring
- Negative thoughts
- Self–critical
- Believing that he/she is terrible or not good enough
- Inducing self-punishments like depriving food for them, avoiding necessities etc.
- Isolating themselves and self-harming
- Refusing to complete routines and duties
- Procrastinating
- Ignoring others/reluctant to speak with others
- Speaking and or expressing sarcastically
How can we help?
- Becoming aware of your triggers and the nature of your reactions
- Anger controlling techniques
- Improving better listening skills
- Improving good communication styles – assertiveness training
- Relaxation therapy
- Mind calming therapy
- Breathing skills
- CBT – cognitive restructuring by understanding the distortions
- Promoting forgiveness
