When angry feelings become a problem

Angry feelings and aggressive behaviour

Everyone has angry feelings from time to time. Anger is a normal adaptive emotion and not in itself a problem; it is the behavioural response to anger that determines whether or not it is dysfunctional or problematic. In fact, in some situations anger empowers us to challenge injustice or to make necessary changes in our lives. However, at other times anger becomes aggression. Anger with aggression is usually a response to perceived threat, unfairness or injustice. Anger turned inwards may also result in a lack of appropriate assertiveness, stress, low mood or self-harm.

In our modern world, very few of us are exposed to the sorts of physical threat that anger and aggression originally evolved to cope with. We don't have to scare off sabre toothed tigers, defend our territory from invaders, protect our exclusive rights to our mate and demonstrate to others in our group that we are still worthy of respect - or do we? For 'life threatening', substitute 'identity threatening'. In today's society some of the things that make people feel angry and stimulate aggressive thoughts are:

Perceived disrespectful treatment: Of thoughts, beliefs, feelings and needs
Perceived threat: To the continuation, or success of something to which we are strongly committed, e.g. one's partner, university course, lifestyle
Perceived unfairness
Perceived provocation or suspicion and hostility: "They" did that on purpose, just to "wind me up". The best form of defence is to attack before they do.

As you can see, apart from the sabre-toothed tiger, everything else is still there.

So when is anger a problem?

For some people anger is not a problem; they get angry, sort it out relatively quickly and then return to equilibrium and their normal state of viewing the world. Anger becomes problematic when it is too easily triggered or too prolonged, and then it impacts on concentration, mood, relationships, self-esteem, work and social life, and can result in aggression or violence to self or others. For some people, dealing with angry feelings and their possible consequences is more of a problem than the situation that caused them, so they try to suppress anger but inevitably allow it out in covert ways. Because of this, they may be highly stressed inside, which in time may cause health problems and depression, and may lead to unhealthy coping behaviours such as self-harm, alcohol or substance misuse.

For a minority of people, anger is present almost all the time, constantly re-enforced by their negative interpretation of the things that happen to them and always just beneath the surface ready to explode. Because of this, they very easily get themselves read more