New article in Chiswick Herald - anger management

01 - Jul - 2016

Our latest article on anger management has been published in the Chiswick Herald, please click here or read the full article below:

Anger - are you an angry person?

 

“Anger management” is a very popular therapy search term and it is something patients often bring to therapy. Anger is a very healthy and normal feeling but what is often missed is that anger is generated from other underlying feelings; so people may easily be avoided because they are viewed as angry because the hurt or upset that lies underneath is not recognised. 

 

Treatment can start when someone has started to wonder whether they have a problem with anger. This sounds obvious but in my experience this is not always so simple. Whilst people think they know what anger looks like - probably more than many other emotions - the reality is that anger can be hidden in a number of ways, examples being by silence and withdrawal or passive aggressive behaviour.  Meanwhile some people can appear to be angry when actually they are more excited or desperate to be understood. I work with my dog in the room and she is an excellent barometer for identifying anger. Many times she has behaved in such a way as to alert me to anger when it has not been obvious to me.

 

Treatment can helpfully be seen as having a two pronged focus - the first is to work on identifying anger and putting in place strategies for de-escalating the anger, the second is to look at the feelings which lead to anger; so its about treatment and prevention.

 

So lets look first at identifying anger. Anger can make itself known through a number of physical, emotional and behavioural signs. Physically you might have an increased heart rate, start to sweat, have stomach pain or a headache, clench your jaw, shake or feel dizzy whilst emotionally it is common to feel a number of emotions for example like running away, wanting to strike out, anxious, guilty. Behaviourally, things that are common are things like pacing, being sarcastic, speaking loudly, doing things that you know are not healthy but you find change how you feel for example drinking, smoking or taking drugs. 

 

Another key way to know if you struggle with anger is to think about your interactions with other people. Does anyone ever make any comments about your behaviour? Do you come away from situations with others where the outcome has left a conflict outstanding? Ask your friends and family whether they experience you as being angry?

 

If you have come to the conclusion that you do have a problem with anger then its time to put in place some strategies to deal with it. Neuroscience is showing that a part of the brain called the amygdala is responsible for triggering our emotions and this trigger happens anything up to six seconds before the rational / thinking part of the brain steps in. This means you can be angry before you know why - so if you are now better able to identify feeling angry you can now manage it. One very useful tool is to count to 10 - it sounds like just one of those things people often say but given the neuroscience, what you are in fact doing is allowing the thinking part of your brain to catch up! Another very useful tool, and something to do at the same time is to focus on breathing slowly. Combine the two and count each breath - use 1001, 1002, 1003 etc.

 

With these tools in place it will now be possible to start to look at understanding the situations and feelings that are generating your anger. Take time to reflect on the times when you became angry. Exactly when did it happen, where were you, who were you with, how did you act, why did you react and what were the thoughts and feelings in the moments before your became angry? You will also find it useful to start keeping a diary so that you can start to identify patterns. 

 

What you may find is that you get angry in certain circumstances - in other words you have ended up with an automatic response and this needs to be challenged as it is no longer useful. Lets take a very simple example just for illustration, imagine you realise you always get angry when you hold open a door for someone and they do not say thank you and you think “that person has no respect, why did I bother?”. Ask yourself what are the other reasons why they might not have said thank you? If nothing comes easily to mind think about a time when you didn’t say thank you - what was happening for you? Once you have found one possible alternative others are likely to follow. Secondly, ask yourself what makes you hold open doors for others and the thoughts and feeling that surface when you challenge yourself to stop doing it? In my experience people often realise that they are reacting to an assumption and an interpretation that may well be unfounded and secondly they are more upset with themselves for having expectations than what actually happened.

 

In finishing though it is really important to be kind to yourself, if you struggle with anger and  the thought of attempting what I’ve written here brings up difficult feelings, maybe even anger then consider talking to someone. And of course if your anger is already at levels where you are putting your safety or the safety of others, (which of course is one and the same thing), then don’t hesitate to seek help, anger can be managed!