Anger is an emotional state that changes in intensity. It ranges from mild irritation to intense fury and anger. It is a totally normal and generally healthy human alteration. When you lose control of this emotion and it becomes destructive, it can cause many problems at work, in personal relationships and in the quality of life.
It can make you feel like you're at the mercy of some powerful and unpredictable force. It is an instinctive disorder, through which the person faces a situation of frustration or threat, which allows them to react to external or internal events. You may get angry at a specific person (such as a coworker, your partner or a supervisor), for some event (traffic jam, a canceled flight), or your annoyance may be caused by a concern about personal problems.
Memories of events considered traumatic can also arouse feelings of anger. It must be taken into account that if this feeling is established (staying upset all day, without justifying cause) there is a risk of becoming ill.
Hence the importance of learning to manage this emotion, in order to improve relationships and preserve health.
How the body suffers.
Like other emotions, anger is accompanied by psychological and physiological changes:
When we get angry, the heart rate and blood pressure rise and the same happens with the level of energy hormones, adrenaline and norepinephrine, the color of the face changes to reddish, due to the blood pressure, the eyebrows go down and meet, the gaze hardens and the lips narrow.
There is a number of research confirming that maintaining these negative attitudes, permanently, is harmful to the body:
The heart, to the limit: it has a high incidence of cardiovascular diseases (heart and blood vessels) in patients who tended to uncontrolled anger, due to the increase in the production of substances (such as adrenaline), which in stress situations are triggered, for which increases the heartbeat and the blood pressure rises.
A stiffness that hurts: The constant manifestation of this emotion in daily life causes a prolonged overexcitation of the body and muscle tension that can generate hypertension, a lowering of the immune system, muscle contractures, digestive disorders such as gastritis, heartburn and colitis, as well such as headaches and difficulty sleeping, among many other problems.
Wounds take longer to heal: how you handle anger determines
the wound healing process: this is slower if there is an outburst of anger, due to the release of the hormone cortisol.
Be outraged yes, but intelligently
The instinctive way to express anger is to respond aggressively, as it is a natural response that adapts to threats and inspires intense, often aggressive feelings, as well as behaviors that allow us to fight and defend ourselves when we feel attacked. Therefore, survival requires a certain degree of anger. However, I don't know
You can go around physically attacking every person or object that annoys or annoys.
Laws, social norms, and common sense set limits on how far we can allow our anger to carry us. This is why people use a variety of conscious and unconscious processes to deal with these feelings.
The main reactions are three and can be summed up as expressing, repressing and calming down.
Now, most studies indicate that suppressing anger is not the solution either and can have the same negative consequences for the body. That is why it is recommended that the affected person try to calm down internally. This means not only controlling your external behavior but also your internal responses, taking steps that will help you lower your heart rate, calm yourself, and let the feelings pass.
How to deal with anger
Express anger in a firm way, avoiding aggressiveness and name calling. Express yourself well; Remember that if you use an aggressive, challenging or critical tone, you will only get the other person to feel that energy of irritation as well, to close down and become defensive. Trying to use a conciliatory tone will avoid arguments and everyone will win.
Do breathing and muscle relaxation exercises to slow your heart rate and blood flow.
The correct way is to breathe in through the nose, widening the lungs as much as possible for five seconds, and inflate the belly at the same time. Hold the air for another five seconds and expel it slowly through the mouth, for ten seconds. Repeat until calm.
Redirect the emotion towards some positive activity that in turn has a productive and effective result (a sport, a manual activity).
Use humor to ease tension. Imagine yourself or the person you are angry with in a ridiculous situation.
When none of the above works, leave the place where the emotion was manifested and walk for a few minutes to distract the mind, always keeping your breathing controlled.
Think positive. Curb negative thoughts and replace them with pleasant and pleasant memories. This will reduce your mental and emotional stress.
If angry episodes are frequent, contact a mental health specialist who will advise you on methods appropriate to your situation.
Expressing angry feelings confidently but without aggression is the healthiest way to express those feelings. To do this, people must learn to make clear what their needs are and how to meet them without hurting others.
Being firm does not mean being pushy or demanding; it means respecting yourself and others.
Modify the way of thinking.
Detect irrational beliefs: behind each negative emotion there is a thought formulated from a demand.
Learn to transform it into preference. Build on rational thinking - don't fall for exaggeration or catastrophism.Try to accept what you cannot control.
Ask yourself questions that help you put what is happening in perspective, for example:With how short life is, how important will it be what is happening to me right now in a couple of months or years?
