What is Anger?

Anger is another human emotion such as love or fear and it has a reason for its existence. It is the physical response to a possible attack or threat to us, and it releases hormones that will help us escape or react in case of such threat. Of course, that worked well for the cave man. But… What about us?

Anger is an emotion which intensity varies a lot, from discomfort to fury, and everything in the middle. In fact, anger shouldn't be repressed but controlled, since it's a natural human emotion, and sometimes we need to "let it out" in order to regain emotional balance.

What causes anger?

Anger can come from different sources, both internal and external. Your emotional state, your personal problems, your worries and frustrations can lead to anger. External sources such as people around us and what they do, or events such as a car problem can infuriate a person, too.

There are people who even get angry at the memory of being angry at something. Therefore, almost anything that bothers us can make us angry, it depends on ourselves how to face this emotion to avoid its nasty consequences.

What happens when I get angry?

If you are reading this, you most probably have been enraged at some point of your life. The first thing we notice when we get angry are the physical changes we have, our body temperature raises, our heart rate goes up, blood pressure skyrockets… All these noticeable changes are caused by hormonal changes produced by our anger, especially adrenaline.

Consequences

Most of the times, an anger episode just ends up in something broken, but if anger episodes are repeated or too strong, then you should seek for advice. In fact, in the US about 20% of the population has an anger management issue and they should or are seeking for professional advice to avoid consequences. Anger can damage your relationship with people, such as family and friends, but also with people at work.

Anger management issues can lead to lots of conflicts, one of the most common is road rage, but it can also lead to addiction and violence, among others.

Anger also affects our body, and it may be the cause of severe headaches, depressive episodes, digestive issues and other related health problems.

So, is it better to let it out every time?

No, definitely not. If what you want is to avoid suffering from the consequences mentioned above the solution is not letting your anger express freely! Just imagine what happens today when somebody can't manage his or her anger and stress! There are car accidents, verbal and physical abuse, violence…

The answer is to see what type of angry person you are, so you can find the strategies that will help you cope wit your anger and use it in a positive way.

To start off, identify the main sources for your anger, both internal and external and see how often and how intense are your anger episodes.