Anger is an essential human emotion attached to survival. It is joined to our fight-flight-freeze response. Anger in itself is not a bad thing (or a sin). It’s all depends on the actions (and negative thought patterns) that you choose to utilize when you lose your temper. Violence of any kind due to outrage is unhealthy. Many people suffer from anger due to underlying mental conditions. It is a common symptom of obsessive compulsive disorder [OCD], attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD], and bipolar disorder. It is also a byproduct of alcohol as well as grief.
Triggers can lead to the development of anger. Triggers differ from person to person though many common environmental causes do exist. To cope with your anger, first identify what it is that triggers the emotion. Many people find themselves becoming angry when stressed. Stress can be due to things such as work overloads, family and relationship issues, or financial troubles. Exercise may be a great way to help let go of the rage as it promotes the production of endorphins (and directs your negative energy towards something positive).
You may need to turn to therapy to help develop better coping mechanisms for your anger. Therapy approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy [CBT] help to restructure thinking, solve problems by finding new ways to cope, and develop communication skills. While some anger is slow to form, other anger can be a rapid burst of apparently out of control rage. There are many types of anger, and these types represent reasoning of some sort. Let’s examine several different kinds of anger:
Behavioral
anger-Behavioral anger is usually so strong that can turn physical.
Sometimes this emotion does result in attacking other people, and can certainly
cause legal consequences. Behavioral anger can come from past trauma or neglect. Without proper upbringing, a person cannot learn to
control their emotions correctly, and with trauma, behavioral anger may be the
only way to deal with hurts experienced early in life. This anger can still be
treated and channeled in the right
direction.
Chronic
anger-Do you hold on to anger for
longer than a few months? Then you might fit the chronic (or habitual) anger
profile. Over time, this type of anger
weakens the immune system and causes
health conditions like hypertension and cardiovascular disease. This is a
person who gets into the habit of anger. They wake up irritated, and moves
angrily from one thing to the next, setting the day up in their mind as a
burden.
They are always looking for
something to get angry about. If you're chronically angry, you may find help in
an anger management support group or by working with a therapist. Left
untreated, this is the type of person who ends up in trouble with the law or alienates
themself from family and friends. Chronic anger can increase your heart-attack
and stroke risk.
Empathic
anger-As long as it’s expressed
appropriately, another type of healthy anger is empathic anger. Empathic
anger occurs when you are angry on behalf of someone else. Empathy is a
healthy emotion for reducing anger in many situations. Mental health usually
improves when you focus on others rather than yourself despite the frequent
popular advice to schedule self-time and self-care. People report greater happiness when they do volunteer work helping others versus doing the same work with
pay.
Habitual
anger-When you’ve
been angry for so long, it can be
hard to stop being angry. Habitual anger is a perpetual state of unrest and dissatisfaction with everything and
everyone. When you try to deal with those who exhibit types of anger such as
this, they will most often get angrier. The hidden aspect of this anger lies
within the past and trickles down through the years.
Although this type of anger may have been born early in
life, it has grown, due to various
negative experiences in the years following. If you’ve had issues with
habitual anger, your life may be a walking nightmare. The good news is you can
learn to heal from this too. Habitual anger is often associated with temperament. It
is felt frequently or consistently, embodied in various emotions such as
frustration, resentment, or irritability. The cause of habitual anger may be
unknown or may vary.
Moral
anger-Jesus became angry one time because He walked through the
temple and became appalled by the gambling and other unholy things he witnessed
in a holy place. As a result, He tossed tables and kicked over stands. This is
an example of what I call moral anger, and is a testimony to how anger in
itself is not bad. Moral anger is
anger based on beliefs (many
times spiritually based). If you have rules set in a household and someone in
that household breaks these rules, you will experience moral anger.
There is a hidden meaning behind the feeling of moral anger.
It seems that when someone gets strict this way, it could be an attempt to control someone. Moral
anger can go too far and turn you into a controlling and manipulative individual. Moral anger is irritation caused
by a situation that correctly warrants the feeling. For example, if you feel
angry due to seeing someone be the victim to racism, your emotion is considered
good. It is caused by the obstruction of your morals.
Passive-aggressive
anger-While this type of anger may seem harmless it sometimes can
do quite a bit of damage. It just doesn’t leave scars in the way you think.
With passive aggressive anger, emotions tend to be pushed down for the most part. There
is resentment, sarcasm, and mockery, all hiding behind a façade. Because of
their inability to express themselves in a healthy manner, those who suffer
from passive-aggressive emotions will
internalize what they really feel.
One hidden secret about this form of anger is that it’s said
to come from childhood
emotional abuse. Some children are taught to not express negative emotions,
and so they grow up to think passive aggression is a logical way of dealing
with problems. If
deep down you’re ticked off, but you haven’t said so out loud or you haven't
acknowledged it yet, you may have passive or resistant anger. This type of
anger is difficult to identify and can wreak havoc on your health. When you
keep the feelings all bottled up, your body is tense all the time.
Your immune system
weakens, and you're at higher risk for heart disease, cancer, osteoarthritis,
even temporomandibular
joint dysfunction and
skin conditions. It's not uncommon for this type of person to one day just
snap. People who fit the passive anger profile should practice expressing
emotions in a healthy way like venting to friends. Another way to break the
passive anger cycle is to engage in physical activity to lower your overall
stress.
Petrified
anger-If you feel stuck in your anger
and have a very hard time forgiving and forgetting an event where you feel you
were wronged, you may have petrified (or hardened) anger. This is when someone
hangs on to a sense of hatred and bitterness. You're waiting for an apology,
but the person who did it possibly doesn't care (or doesn't even know that
you're angry.
The key to overcoming petrified anger is to
forgive. You've need to realize that the anger isn't getting you anywhere. You
can choose to forgive once and for all, and by doing so you'll forgive
yourself. If you're ready to forgive, a therapist can help you work through the
buried emotions. A therapist can also help you reach out to the person who has
upset you so you can finally let go of anger.
Self-harm
anger-Self-harm is more than just depression. The act of self-harm can
actually be a form of anger against one’s self. When people cut their skin,
they could be exhibiting anger for how they look. It’s a complicated matter to understand
sometimes, but it’s a negative emotion
which must be revealed. The hidden aspects of self-harm can come from many
places. Self-harm can come from past abuse, trauma, and neglect. It can also
come from repeated disappointments
and broken relationships. Instead of focusing outward anger, people who suffer
from self-harm may focus these emotions on the person within.
Vengeful
anger-One of the most common types of anger is vengeful (or
revenge) anger. It’s a basic form of
anger which has been around since the beginning of time. With this form
of anger, there’s usually not a lot of premeditation, except for the plans of
getting revenge which come along with the emotion. There is little-hidden meaning behind this type of anger. It
is straightforward. To the ones who feel this emotion, it is pure in its intent.
Those who exhibit vengeance feel the emotions
and actions are warranted. If you're obsessed by someone you feel has
wronged you, you probably have what's called vengeful anger.
This type of anger
takes a toll on you both mentally and physically in the form of obsessive
thoughts, high levels of stress, and an increased risk for heart
problems. When you take revenge on someone who has wronged you, the
dopamine (or reward) center in the brain gets activated in a similar manner to
addictions. In other words, revenge is sweet, which explains the tendency for
angry people to ponder over vengeance that gets more and more intense as the
thinking progresses. If this sounds like you, try to distract yourself. A good
approach for this type of anger is to find activities that get you out of your
head such as volunteering, which shifts your
brain from anger at others toward helping others. The best cure for
vengeful anger is forgiveness.
Volatile
anger-Are you prone to road rage when
you're behind the wheel? You may be experiencing volatile anger (or its more
serious form intermittent explosive disorder). People with intermittent explosive disorder have
episodes of aggressive, violent behavior or angry verbal outbursts that are
grossly out of proportion to the situation. It is almost like a seizure.
Volatile anger is slightly more
common in males and those with substance abuse problems. This type of anger
puts people at risk for self-harm, damage to property, violence against others,
and trouble with interpersonal relationships. It's important to seek
professional help for patterns of this type of anger, and to use caution if
someone around you is prone to it. Volatile anger should not ever be an
accepted form of expression of anger.
“For every minute you are angry, you lose 60
seconds of happiness.” (Gecko & Fly)[i]
[i] Sources used:
·
“7 Different Types of Anger and the Hidden Causes
behind Each” Sherrie Hurd
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