Anger management -

Learn why your mom and everybody else is wrong about expressing your anger and why it might be essential for survival

Anger management allows you to deal with the all too familiar feeling of anger.

Our society and upbringing always dictates that the expression of anger is not a socially acceptable behavior, often leading to the deliberate suppression of anger. You must understand that anger is a normal and healthy emotion. The trick is to not let it become full blown and destructive - this is where it gets out of control and is often a sign of help needed.

For my personal account of a potential anger situation, see my Stress Management article.

What causes anger?

Now, what causes anger?

I'm sure most of you would have known the answer to that.

Anger can be triggered by both external and internal events. You could be angry at a certain person or a certain event, or you could be angry at personal problems. Events that had happened in the past, or during your childhood days (e.g. physical abuse, betrayal, sexual abuse, bullying) can trigger anger also.

How do you express your anger?

When confronted with an event or incident that triggers anger, it is natural for us to respond with aggression. This behavior activates our body's instinctive survival mechanism similar to the fight or flight response experienced in a stressful situation.

That doesn't mean that we can go around hurling abuses or even get physical with someone when we are angry.

On the other hand, there are people who suppresses their anger and end up directing their anger inwards instead of outwards. They might get angry with themselves and end up emotionally upset leading to serious problems like depression, or in some cases having suicidal thoughts.

So what are the things you can do to manage that anger?

What is anger management?

Anger management consists of two components, expressing it and calming down. The expression of anger has to be done in a controlled manner, this can include learning to be assertive when confronting someone, and getting your point across without resorting to aggressive behavior.

Learn to calm down, by controlling your internal response to anger situations. You could do this with various relaxation and stress response techniques discussed in Anger Management Techniques.