How to cope with anger?

Anger is a natural emotion that everyone will feel at some point in their life. Just like feeling happy and sad, anger can be a part of a person’s day to day life if it is under control. There is no way to stop the emotional anger as it is a part of a human’s natural instinct to have these emotions, just as it is a wild animal’s instinct to hunt. Although, there can be a problem when being uncontrollably angry for longer periods of time. This is described by some as having ‘anger issues’. Anybody of any age can be affected by it. Anger can strain all aspects of a person’s life including your mental and physical health. It can also affect a person’s social life and relationships.  

Why do people get angry?

People can get angry due to events that may occur in their lives. Triggers that can make you feel angry include situations that make us feel threatened, powerless, being mistreated, or treated unfairly and miscommunication.  Examples of reasons for peoples are:

What are the signs of anger? 

Anger can affect all parts of your body and mind, so it is good to know what the signs are and how to manage your anger. The signs of anger may be different with each individual but overall signs to look out for are:

Anger can even affect a person in more ways including physically after the rush of anger has passed. Once your anger levels have gone back down to minimal you may notice things like headaches, tingling sensations in your limbs and even tightening of your chest. These are the signs that you have been angry for to long 

Ways to deal with anger

Dealing with anger is always advised as it can have a negative impact on your body and day to day life. Dealing with anger is not always easy, but it will make you feel better after. There are negative and positive ways to deal with anger, it’s always best to deal with anger in a positive way. These ways may include.

• Talking it out.

Talking to somebody who you trust will help you to feel better and calm down. You can talk to someone over the phone or face to face just try not to shout at them or make them uncomfortable 

• Removing yourself from the situation that makes you angry.

It is always best to remove yourself from the situation that makes you feel angry as quickly as possible, because the angrier you are the harder it is to calm down

• Exercise. 

Exercise releases endorphins in your body which in turn, triggers a positive feeling in the body. This could be something as simple as going for a walk, jog, run or swim 

• Breathing techniques.

Slowing down your breathing and taking deeper breaths help you to tell your brain that you are safe 

• Taking a shower.

Taking a hot and steamy shower helps your body to relax by relaxing your body you are helping your mind to relax as well

• Doing something creative.

Getting creative will help relieve your anger. Drawing, painting, or even creating music to express your anger is beneficial to your mind and lowers your anger levels almost immediately 

All the ways listed here are positive ways of dealing with anger and will help you to feel better. Negative ways involve becoming aggressive or violent, Misusing drugs or alcohol to deal with your anger. These negative ways will cause more negative impacts such as feelings of guilt, loss of friendships or relationships and addiction. It can take a matter of minutes to develop an addiction to drugs and alcohol.

Treatment for anger.

Sometimes it is extremely difficult to cope with anger on your own but there is extra support out there for people. Such as:

• Anger management – This teaches you to change the way you think and to not let anger defeat you, through a series of group sessions or sometimes they can be one to one. It can change the thought processes that create an unhealthy relationship with anger
• Therapy – This will help you to identify triggers that cause you to be angry and can help you to avoid them and mange your reactions to those triggers
• Breathing techniques – Taking deeper breaths in and out until your heart rate lowers will help you combat your anger, practising yoga is also good with helping you learn to control your breathing.

Negative health impacts anger can cause.

Prolonged outbursts of anger can cause negative impacts on your health these include:

• Depression – Depression occurs in anger due to the feeling of guilt after an angry outburst. Depression may not be noticeable during periods of angry but you may feel guilt and depressed once back to a calmer state.
• Increased anxiety – Anxiety can have different triggers like anger does. Prolonged episodes of anger can then cause a person to develop anxiety. Anxiety can form because a person has no control over situations that can cause anger. 
• Headaches and insomnia – Staying angry for long periods of time can cause headaches, because your brain is working harder. The longer you are angry the more likely it is you will develop a headache and this can affect the simplest of tasks, such as reading, watching TV, or simply relaxing or going to sleep at night.
• High blood pressure – Because your heart rate is increased, your arteries that carry the blood from your heart around your body must work hard as well meaning an increase in your blood pressure. This can become dangerous, even life threatening. High blood pressure can cause numerous health conditions such as, heart attacks and strokes 

Benefits of coping with anger

Learning to cope with anger is beneficial to many aspects of life, including the parts listed above. Coping with anger will help to boost your mental health and improve relationships. This will reduce the risks of insomnia and depression; exercising will also aid in boosting your mental health by releasing endorphins. By learning to cope with your anger you will also reduce your risks of a stroke or heart attack.

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