Anger and Rage

Anger is an emotional response to a grievance. The grievance may be real or imagined, it may have its roots in a past or present experience, or it may be in anticipation of a future event. Anger is invariably based on the perception of threat or a perceived threat due to a conflict, injustice, negligence, humiliation and betrayal among others.

Many words in our vocabulary describe various forms of anger that differ primarily by their intensity of passion and arousal. A partial list includes: irritation, frustration, annoyance, miffed, sulking, offended, indignation, exasperation, incensed, pissed, outrage, wrath, rage, fury, ferocity, and livid.

Anger can be an active or a passive emotion. In case of "active" emotion the angry person lashes out verbally or physically at an intended target.  When anger is a passive emotion it characterized by silent sulking, passive-aggressive behavior, and hostility.

Anger can be caused by both external and internal events. You could be angry at a specific person or event (a traffic jam, a canceled event), or your anger could be caused by worrying or brooding about your personal problems. Memories of traumatic or enraging events can also trigger angry feelings.

Anger is a completely normal, usually healthy, human emotion. But when it gets out of control and turns destructive, it can lead to problems at work, in your personal relationships, and in the overall quality of your life. And it can make you feel as though you're at the mercy of an unpredictable and powerful emotion.

Like other emotions, anger is accompanied by physiological and biological changes.  When you get angry, your heart rate and blood pressure go up, as do the levels of your energy hormones, adrenaline, and noradrenaline.

Our brain is networked in such a way as to influence the action before its consequences are logically considered. As one becomes angry the body's muscles tense up. Inside the brain, neurotransmitter chemicals known as catecholamines are released causing an experience of a burst of energy lasting up to several minutes. At the same time the heart beat increases, the blood pressure rises, and so does the rate of breathing. The face may flush as increased blood flow enters the limbs and extremities in preparation for physical action. In quick succession, additional brain neurotransmitters and hormones, adrenaline and noradrenaline are released which trigger a lasting state of arousal.

While anger has a physiological preparation phase during which the body resources are mobilized for a fight, it also has a wind-down phase as well. The body starts to relax back towards its resting state when the target of the anger is no longer accessible or an immediate threat. It is difficult to relax from an angry state very quickly. The adrenaline-caused arousal that occurs during anger lasts a very long time (many hours, sometimes days), and lowers the anger threshold, making it easier for the person to get angry again later on. It takes a rather long time for the body to return to the resting state.

Anger is best recognized and controlled if it is understood.  One of the steps in better understanding anger is to know what the types of anger are. If you know the cause of your anger, the better you may be able to combat it. The following types of anger are adapted from the anger management strategies website:

1. Behavioral Anger. This type of anger is comprised of aggressive and cruel actions. It inclines mostly on the physical aspect. It usually implies a confrontation towards the subject of the anger, usually a person. It is expressed through trouble-making, physical harm and defiance.

2. Verbal anger. This type of anger, on the other hand, merely uses words and not actions. It is expressed mostly by openly speaking insulting words and hurtful criticisms. Accusing somebody of a crime or of a wrong-doing is also an example of verbal anger.

3. Passive Anger. Passive anger is shown mostly through mockery, or through avoiding a certain instance. People who are displaying this type of anger are not showing their anger outright but are devising covert ways of expressing it. They do not confront a person or a situation.

4. Self-inflicted anger. This type of anger is the one that is directed toward a person’s own body. Sometimes, people showing this type of anger tend to starve themselves or eat too much, for example. These are the people into the idea of punishing their own self for something wrong they have done.

5. Chronic anger. People with chronic anger are just angry in general. They are angry with their lives, with their selves, with the people around them and the whole world in general. They don’t necessarily have a definite reason why. Most of the time, they are just angry for apparently no reason at all.

6. Judgmental anger. This type of anger would lead somebody to hurtfully shame the people around him, like his family, friends and neighbors. He expresses his anger by putting others down and belittling their abilities as a person.

7. Overwhelmed anger. This type of anger is seen on people that do not like the situations happening around them that directly affect their lives. They usually shout or lash out at someone or something easily. They do so because that’s their way of relieving the stress and the pain they are feeling.

8. Constructive anger. This type of anger is the type that makes people want to go out and join groups and movements. And they usually do it because they wanted to do something to correct a certain situation. They wanted to make a positive change. And that’s the main effect of this type of anger.

9. Volatile Anger. This type of anger is the one that easily comes and goes. The magnitude of this anger varies too. It could build into a rage, or it could be a mild, sudden anger. It could explode abruptly, or it could go unseen. It all depends on the person controlling the anger. This type is expressed either by verbal or physical assault.

10. Retaliatory anger. This type of anger is the most common one. Usually people get angry because other people are angry at them. This anger depends mainly on the other person. If your anger is due to a person lashing out at you, then you are guilty of this type of anger.

11. Paranoid Anger. This anger arises if a person feels, in an irrational way, that they are intimidated by others. People with this type of anger feel and think that other people wanted to take what is rightfully theirs. They are angry toward that person because, for one, they are jealous.

12. Deliberate Anger. This type of anger is shown by people who would like to gain control over a situation. They are mostly not angry at first. But they will be once you have shown that you are against what they have planned and what they would like to happen. They use anger to gain power over somebody or something.

People use a variety of both conscious and unconscious processes to deal with their angry feelings. Expressing your angry feelings can be done in violent destructive ways or in an assertive, but non-aggressive, manner. Hopefully, the person who is angry has learned, or will learn, how to make clear what their needs are, and how to get them met, without hurting others.

Anger can be suppressed, and then converted or redirected. This happens when you hold in your anger, stop thinking about it, and focus on something positive. The aim is to inhibit or suppress your anger and convert it into more constructive behavior. The danger in this type of response is that if it isn't allowed outward expression, your anger can turn inward on yourself. Anger turned inward may cause hypertension, high blood pressure, or depression. Unexpressed anger can create other problems. It can lead to pathological expressions of anger, such as passive-aggressive behavior (getting back at people indirectly, without telling them why, rather than confronting them head-on) or a personality that seems perpetually cynical and hostile. People who are constantly putting others down, criticizing everything, and making cynical comments haven't learned how to constructively express their anger.

Anger can make us blind to the truth and unable to accept what’s sensible and correct. When anger is the primary emotion being felt, we become less able to think and act rationally and in some cases, even our senses do not work properly because of extreme anger.

Anger is often followed by depression When we feel particularly irate, we tend to express ourselves verbally or physically.  Afterwards, when we recognize such outburst as atypical of ourselves and we end up feeling depressed with the reality of what we have just done.

Anger is a fundamental emotion that everyone experiences from time to time. From a very early age, people learn to express anger by copying the angry behavior they see modeled around them, and by expressing angry behavior and seeing what they can get away with.

If you feel that your anger is really out of control, if it is having an impact on your relationships and on important parts of your life, you might consider counseling to learn how to handle it better. A psychologist or other licensed mental health professional can work with you in developing a range of techniques for changing your thinking and your behavior.

Remember, you can't eliminate anger. In spite of all your efforts, things will happen that will cause you anger.  Life is filled with frustration, pain, loss, and the unpredictable actions of others. You can't change that; but you can change the way you let such events affect you. Controlling your angry responses can keep them from making you even more unhappy in the long run.

Each person needs to learn how to control anger their anger, so that it does not control them. The following is a brief overview of the types of anger management programs and resources that have proved helpful in understanding and controlling anger.

Individual and Group Therapy for Anger Management

For some people, the easiest way to change the way they handle anger is to work with a psychologist or other licensed mental health professional in an individual or group therapy setting. A therapist, who can observe and analyze your behavior from an impartial perspective, can help you with your reality testing.  An anger management therapist knows many effective anger management strategies and will be able to help you develop a personalized set of strategies for changing both your thinking and behavior.  Depending on your needs, your therapist may work with you on breathing or meditation exercises to reduce anger arousal, safe and appropriate emotional and physical techniques to release anger, communication skills, or cognitive restructuring (a method for disputing and changing the way you think).

Anger Management Classes

Anger management classes may be available through your employer, or through a variety of organizations serving your community. Anger management classes vary in length and quality. While some stretch across multiple weeks and begin to approximate the therapy approach described above, others span a single weekend.

Relaxation and exercise

Simple relaxation tools such as deep breathing and relaxing imagery can help calm down angry feelings. Breathing deeply, from your diaphragm, will help while breathing from your chest won't relax you. Picture your breath coming up from your "gut".  While breathing, you can slowly repeat a calm word or phrase such as "relax," "calm down" or "take it easy." Non-strenuous exercise, like yoga, can relax your muscles and make you feel much calmer.  Strenuous and vigorous exercise to help "work off" angry feelings may also be a helpful technique.

Self-Study

Video and audio recordings and online classes allow you to complete programs in your spare time and work at your own speed. Some of these programs offer email or phone support, and online message boards or chat groups. There are also many books available today that address anger and anger management from a variety of perspectives.

The more you understand about anger and rage, the better you can cope with them and with related problems. Reaching out for information and assistance can help you live a healthier and more fulfilling life. People who suffer from anger and/or rage problems can get help from a mental health professional such as a psychologist, psychiatrist, or clinical social worker. For more information about anger, rage, and other mental health problems, please click on the linked websites listed below.

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