Anger Managment And Health Essay
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ANGER MANAGEMENT AND HEALTH
by,
Danita C. McCoy
Everybody feels anger from time to time. People have been documented feeling anger since biblical times when God was considered
angry. Babies even exhibit signs that are interpreted as anger, such as crying or screaming. Anger is not in any way unique to people.
Animals also have the ability to feel and express anger.
In our personal lives we get angry over at least one thing on almost a daily basis, whether it be on the job, with a spouse or loved one,
or perhaps with a figure of authority. Many psychologists have written about anger, discussing the relationship between anger and fear.
Each of the individuals that comprise humanity possesses at least one phobia, in the same way that each is capable of possessing anger.
The negativity that is associated with phobias often spills over into our feelings about anger. We begin to think negatively about anger
since we associate it with fear.
Plato was the first to suggest that anger was a disbalance. According to Dr. Willard Gaylin, a prominent psychologist, anger is still seen
as a disbalance by many of today’s psychologists. Since Plato, anger has suffered a bad reputation. We only have to imagine a domestic
abuse scene to immediately condemn anger in all of its manifestations.
There is a reason why anger is viewed in a negative light. Nobody likes it when someone is angry with them. We tend to avoid the
wrath of those around us. This is one reason we see anger as negative. Another reason may lie closer to Plato’s concept of imbalance. The
negative perception of anger is evident in the American Heritage Dictionary’s definitions of the word anger (1):
1. A feeling of extreme displeasure, hostility, indignation, or someone or something; rage; wrath; ire.
2. (Obsolete) Trouble; pain; affliction.
To say, “I’m getting angry”, is to invoke fear in another, usually, that fear originates from a perception that the utterer of the phrase is
about to take some sort of dramatic action. Dr. Gaylin speaks for these emotions, rage is a response to a perceived assault that effects the
body in interesting ways. Skeletal muscles are tensed; the autonomic system moves to increase the supply of adrenaline and redistribute
the blood flow of the body; certain muscles are contracted and opposing ones relaxed. (2)
Apparently, anger is viewed negatively for a reason that is closer to Plato’s concept of imbalance. It is also closer to the American
Heritage’s definition of being sick. The authors of When Anger Hurts: Anger in Modern Life explain the complications that chronic
anger can create. Doctors have long suspected that anger increases the blood rate. Many scientists now point out that norepinepherine, the
drug that is secreted during anger, increases blood pressure as well. Anger and abnormally high blood pressure are correlated; and high
blood pressure leads to many forms of heart disease. In a recent study 1,623 patients were interviewed an average of four days after they
had suffered a heart attack following an outburst of anger. The study showed that the risk of suffering a heart attack is doubled after an
outburst of anger. (3) The psychologist Franz Alexander’s hypothesized in 1839 that hypertesnisves lack basic assertive skills. Psychological
studies have repeatedly backed Alexander’s assertion theory ever since. (4)
High blood pressure is said to be caused by uncontrolled anger, which in turn is caused by a lack of assertion. If we bottle up our anger
now, then we will feel it later. Eventually our arteries will grow weak and we will remain tense, living daily with treacherous moods
and health. The alternative is to shout out our anger at the world and let it manifest itself any way that it pleases. Of course, taking our
anger out at the world can have even more deleterious effects. People just don’t like it when we demonstrate our anger. Many of us are
taught at an early age to bury our anger inside, where it causes stress, both emotionally and physically. For example, in grade school,
children have to stay after class or are sent to the principle when they express feelings of anger. Poorly managed anger is the cause of
many serious physical, social and emotional problems, form heart disease to neighborhood violence. The Institute for Mental Health
Initiatives (IMHI) believes that by teaching people the skills to manage their anger constructively, they will become empowered with the
ability to understand their own and other’s feelings and resolve conflict in a non-violent manner. The IMHI believes the best way to
achieve this goal is to train teachers, counselors, social workers, health professional, community leaders and others in constructive anger
management skills so that they can help others by conducting workshops in their own settings. (3)
Anger is not physically healthy. Bottled up, it can lead to drug-induced escapism or to ignorance of our surroundings. Venting anger
carelessly can also be dangerous. It is no wonder that anger has been viewed as negative. Since we live in a stressful society, we have no
choice but to find ways of venting anger positively. East Asian religion has given the West meditation, which is known to slow the
heartbeat and calm the nerves. Other Eastern techniques of reducing stress include acupuncture, and the Japanese bathhouse. In the United
States we have psychology, also, a number of exercises have been developed to control and eventually reduce stress and anger. One basic
technique is called deep breathing: Lie down on your back, placing one hand on your chest and another on your abdomen. Take deep
breaths, inhaling slowly through the nose. Feel the abdomen raise and scan the body for tension. Let the tension go as you encounter it.
After five to ten minutes the body is less tense. It is suggested that this exercise be done once or twice a day for two to three weeks to
get useful results. (4)
Redford Williams, a professor of psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center and co-author of Anger Kills, has spent more than 20
years studying the impact of the mind and emotions on health. Dr. Williams believes that when normal people are faced with everyday
anger, annoyance, irritation, and frustration-
and their immediate impulse is to commonly blame somebody or something, sparking fury toward the offender manifesting itself in
aggressive action, then getting angry is like taking a small dose of slow-acting poison. According to a study of more than 1,000 people at
a Western Electric Factory in Chicago, over a 25 year period, those with high hostility scores were at high risk of dying from coronary
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