ComputerHunter.org

 

Keeping Your Anger Under Control


In my work with individuals and couples, I see many people who have a difficult time expressing and managing angry feelings. Let's take a look at what causes people to become angry and how they can respond to stressful situations more productively.

What Is Anger?

Many people think that anger is caused by hormonal changes or brain activity. This is only partly true. Researchers have found that while hormones play a role in an angry response, there is always a cognitive (thinking) component.

Some people think that humans are innately aggressive or warlike. While our behavior is sometimes hostile toward others, anger is not part of our basic nature.

Frustration may lead to aggression, but it is not inevitable. Some people respond to frustrating events with anger, while others don't. Anger is only one response to frustration. In many cultures, people are taught to respond to frustration in other ways.

Since Freud's day, psychologists have disagreed about the value of venting feelings. It may surprise you to know that today's research shows that expressing anger often results in more irritation and tension rather than feeling more calm.

Why Expressing Anger Can Be Bad for You

Giving vent to anger can produce the following kinds of harmful effects:

? Your blood pressure increases.

? The original problem is worse rather than better.

? You come across as unfriendly and intimidating.

? The other person becomes angry with you as a result of your behavior.

Physical Effects of Anger

Heart. Researchers at Stanford University have found that of all the personality traits found in Type A patients, the potential for hostility is the key predictor for coronary disease. The combination of anger and hostility is the most deadly.

Stomach and intestines. Anger has a very negative effect on the stomach and has even been associated with the development of ulcerative colitis.

Nervous system. Anger is bad for you because it exaggerates the associated hormonal changes. Chronic suppressed anger is damaging because it activates the sympathetic nervous system responses without providing any release of the tension. It is a bit like stepping down on a car's accelerator while slamming on the brakes.

Why We Get into the Anger Habit

Anger is our response to stress. Many times we feel anger to avoid feeling some other emotion, such as anxiety or hurt. Or we may feel angry when we are frustrated because we want something and can't have it. Sometimes, feeling angry is a way of mobilizing ourselves in the face of a threat.

Anger may be useful because it stops (blocks) stress. Here are two examples:

1. You are rushing all day in your home office to meet an impossible deadline. Your daughter bounces in after school and gives you a big hug as you furiously type on your computer. You snap, "Not now! Can't you see I'm busy?"

2. You have just finished taking an important exam. You have studied for weeks and the result is very important to your career. You fantasize all the way home about dinner at your favorite Italian restaurant. When you get home, your husband has prepared a steak dinner for you. You yell, "Why don't you ask me before you just assume you know what I want?"

This explains why people often respond with anger when they experience the following kinds of stress:

? Anxiety

? Being in a hurry

? Being overstimulated

? Being overworked

? Depression

? Fatigue

? Fear

? Feeling abandoned or attacked

? Feeling forced to do something you don't want to do

? Feeling out of control

? Guilt, shame, or hurt

? Loss

? Physical pain

What to Do Instead of Getting Angry

Here are some constructive things can you do to reduce stress-instead of becoming angry:

? Beat a pillow with a tennis racket.

? Cry.

? Do relaxation exercises.

? Get physical exercise.

? Listen to your favorite music.

? Make a joke.

? Play games.

? Say it out loud.

? State your needs assertively.

? Take a nap.

? Tell a friend about it.

? Work.

? Write about it.

Garrett Coan is a professional therapist,coach and psychotherapist. His two Northern New Jersey office locations are accessible to individuals who reside in Bergen County, Essex County, Passaic County, Rockland County, and Manhattan. He offers online and telephone counseling services for those who live at a distance. He can be accessed through http://www.creativecounselors.com or 201-303-4303.







Google News - Top Stories

Reuters

US Automakers, UAW to ‘Genuflect’ to Split Congress (Update3)
Bloomberg - 56 minutes ago
By Mike Ramsey and Jeff Green Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC, running out of money to operate, must convince a divided Congress that their plans to shrink are severe enough to ensure repayment of $25 billion ...
Detroit hoping to map a path to profits CNNMoney.com
Automakers rush to finish plans Reuters
BusinessWeek - MarketWatch - The Associated Press - Washington Post
all 1,384 news articles


ABC News

In New Role, Clinton's Former Experience Won't Help Much
ABC News - 4 hours ago
By RUSSELL GOLDMAN President-elect Barack Obama, left, stands with Secretary of State-designate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, DN.Y.
Video: Obama Picks Gates, Clinton for Foreign Policy AssociatedPress
Clinton’s ascent to Cabinet post is applauded left to right Buffalo News
Washington Post - RealClearPolitics - International Herald Tribune - MarketWatch
all 4,710 news articles


Times Online

Pirates fire on US cruise ship in hijack attempt
The Associated Press - 52 minutes ago
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - Pirates chased and shot at a US cruise liner with more than 1000 people on board but failed to hijack the vessel as it sailed along a corridor patrolled by international warships, a maritime official said Tuesday.
Cruise ship evades pirate attack BBC News
Iran may use military option on pirates PRESS TV
Reuters South Africa - CBS News - CollegeOTR - CNN International
all 463 news articles


Washington Post

Obama to meet with governors about economic crisis
CNN - 1 hour ago
(CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama is meeting with the country's governors on Tuesday to talk about how the economic crisis is affecting their states.
Obama has bipartisan message for nervous governors The Associated Press
Obama huddles with governors Boston Globe
Bloomberg - Philadelphia Inquirer - Washington Post - AFP
all 745 news articles


ABC News

Georgia voters head to polls -- again
United Press International - 1 hour ago
Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-GA, speaks during a news conference on the final Phase II reports on prewar Iraq intelligence on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 5, 2008.
Georgia Hosts Key US Senate Runoff Election Voice of America
Ga. Senate runoff could decide balance of power The Associated Press
Atlanta Journal Constitution - NewsHour - Chattanooga Times Free Press - WTOC
all 1,568 news articles

Google
 

Copyright © 2006 Computer Hunter - A Division of Arthur´s Job Base