Webster’s definition of anger is “an intense emotional state induced by displeasure”. Anger is an intense feeling that manifests physical and mental symptoms from underlying problems or pain that we experience
When we attempt to manipulate our environment and are less than successful we can feel a loss of control and become frustrated. Often we can feel like we are under attack.
There are many ways that anger affects your physical and mental life. Anger can cause a number of physical problems. The physical tolls that it can take on your body varies from small problems to major ones that can threaten your life. Anger can affect your appearance, such as causing, pimples, hand tremors, tearfulness, contracting of pupils, cause you to pop your fingers or joints, and to clench and grind your jaw. It can also affect your daily activities by causing shortness of breath, stiffness in your muscles which cause soreness, or cause your speech and motions to be faster and more intense. You may also notice a decrease in your appetite or an increase in your vices, such as, smoking or drinking. Additional symptoms may include decreased sexual drive, headaches, fatigue, and constipation. The life threatening affects of anger may include high blood pressure leading to stroke, heart palpitations, or even heart attack.
Anger can aggravate and fuel many mental health problems. It may also change who you are as a person in small increments that you do not realize it. Some of the smaller effects that may happen include becoming irritated more than usual, and becoming unreliable and undependable, and secretive. It can lower your self-esteem. You may be insulting, hurtful, destructive, dispassionate, and point blame at others. Anger can lead to more personal issues causing depression and anxiety. It can also elaborate your phobias and obsessions.
People tend to express their anger either passively or aggressively causing repression and denial of anger. People who express there anger passively tend to secretive, manipulative, ineffectual, dispassionate, obsessive, or evasive. Aggressive behavior can cause a person to become threatening, hurtful, destructive, unjust, revengeful, or even unpredictable.
Though anger can always be controlling there are several ways of managing the stress that anger brings. You can try exercise, counseling, listening to music you enjoy, meditation, or humor and laughter. These are just a few ways to help you cope. In addition to these coping tools you may want to try the following tips for when something happens that will make you angry: try taking a deep breath and relax. Then try saying a few motivational saying to yourself; “As long as I keep my cool, I’m in control”, “I’m not going to let them get to me”, “I can’t expect people to act in a way I want them to I can only control myself”, or “Learn to accept the things that I can not change.” Rather than bottling up the tension and angry feelings or doing something self destructive, you can channel it into something healthy and constructive.
Once you can accept that life is sometimes unfair, you can gain a more positive attitude. You can work constructively to rectify the unfairness you find and transform your anger into passion you can reach for fulfillment in spite of the unfairness that exists. You should also try to approach anger in a balanced way that controls the emotion and allows the emotion to express itself in a healthy way.