Identifying Anger Problems And Knowing When To Get Help
Everyone may get angry from time to time, but some people may experience anger more intensely than others. When anger starts to become excessive or affects someone’s personal or professional life, it can be a sign of anger issues. Read on to learn more about identifying possible anger problems, expressing anger, and when to get help. Therapy can teach you to effectively manage challenging feelings like anger and equip you with helpful coping strategies.
What is anger?
Anger can be described as a common emotion that everyone tends to experience from time to time. Many people get angry when something doesn’t go their way, if they believe someone has wronged them, or when they witness injustice. In many situations, anger can be justified, and not all anger is bad. It can be a positive emotion that drives us toward change.
However, anger can become a problem if it begins to negatively affect your life or the lives of others around you. There are many signs that can indicate an anger problem. Here are a few of them:
- You feel angry often, and these angry feelings affect your ability to experience positive emotions.
- Your anger can be intense, and you may believe you cannot control it or resort to physical violence.
- You react to anger physically by slamming doors, hitting people, throwing things, or breaking things.
- You resort to self-harm or harm toward others when expressing your anger.
- You blame your challenges on other people.
- Your anger affects your relationships.
- You engage in passive-aggressive behavior.
- Your anger negatively impacts your work performance.
- You overreact to minor inconveniences.
- You ruminate over things in the past that have made you angry.
- You have angry outbursts and say things that you later regret, or you may not remember what you say when you’re angry.
- You turn to substances or alcohol to cope with your anger.
- You generally have a negative outlook on life.
- You suppress your anger.
- You sense you are isolated, unloved, or alienated and turn your anger inward.
High blood pressure and other physical effects of anger
Anger can have many effects on physical health. Identifying anger problems and learning to manage anger can help individuals avoid these potential concerns.
How anger affects the heart
Anger can affect the heart in many ways. For example, it can impact the blood vessels, the electrical system, or the heart muscle itself. When people get angry, their heart rate and blood pressure usually increase, blood vessels constrict, and inflammation increases. For people who already have heart health concerns, like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or an abnormal heartbeat, anger can increase the risk of a heart attack.
How anger affects the gut
Research is beginning to uncover how the gut and brain are connected. Just as anxiety and other emotions can affect digestion, anger can impact the nerves and muscles in the gastrointestinal tract, potentially leading to discomfort, cramps, or diarrhea.
Mental health effects of anger
Anger has been linked to several mental health challenges, including depression, low self-esteem, lower-quality relationships, insomnia, anxiety, and brain fog. It can also be a symptom of other mental health disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), intermittent explosive disorder (IED), disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD), bipolar disorder, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and borderline personality disorder (BPD).
Why it can be important to control anger before it controls you
Anger problems can affect many aspects of someone’s life, so learning to control them can have many benefits. Here are some ways that healthily managing anger can impact daily life and long-term health.
Improved blood pressure and other physical symptoms
Learning to manage anger may reduce its adverse health effects. By learning to control your body’s responses to anger, you may mitigate some of the reactions in your cardiovascular and gastrointestinal systems, which can protect your health in the long run.
Better mental health
If anger is contributing to mental health challenges like insomnia, anxiety, depression, or brain fog, learning to manage your anger can improve these symptoms. In turn, this can improve well-being in daily life.
Enhanced relationships
Anger can significantly impact relationships, including those with coworkers, family, friends, and romantic partners. Learning to control anger can improve and strengthen these relationships.
Anger management tips
There are some strategies that you can try to manage anger on your own.
- Learn your warning signs. It’s generally easier to manage anger if it doesn’t escalate in the first place. If you can recognize when you’re starting to get angry, you can take a time out or use relaxation techniques to prevent your emotions from escalating.
- Use relaxation techniques. You can try a wide range of techniques to relax, including deep breathing, yoga, meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, and exercise. Determine which approach works for you and practice it regularly so that you can apply it when you sense anger starting to rise.
- Don’t dwell on things that make you angry. It can be tempting to replay incidents over and over in your head, but this can prolong your anger. Instead, try to let the past go and focus on positive things in the present.
How to tell if anger management is working
If you notice that you are starting to get angry less frequently or that your anger does not escalate as much as it used to, you may be successfully managing it on your own. On the other hand, if you cannot seem to gain control over your emotions, it may be time to consider seeking professional help.
When to seek professional help
Generally, if your anger hurts you or others, you should consider getting professional help. Some signs that you may be having a difficult time controlling your anger include physically harming yourself or others, saying things that you later regret, or believing that you cannot control your anger. You should also seek help if you are turning to substances or alcohol to cope with your anger, or if you are worried that you may hurt yourself or someone else.
Anger management and therapy
When you work with a mental health professional, you can learn how to manage your anger and discover factors that may contribute to it. If you have any co-occurring mental health disorders, a therapist can help you learn how to manage their symptoms as well.
Learn to control anger before it controls you
Research suggests that approximately 75% of people who participate in anger management therapy see improvement.
Most of the research about anger treatment has focused on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). In CBT, a therapist generally helps you identify negative thought patterns or beliefs that may be contributing to your anger and teaches you how to change them. You may focus on the factors that precede your anger episodes and explore how you can respond to them differently, and your therapist can support you as you learn to resolve conflicts and rebuild relationships that may have been affected by your anger.
Connect with a mental health professional online
If you’re experiencing seemingly uncontrollable anger problems and are interested in working with a therapist, you have several options. Barriers to in-person treatment, like a lack of available appointments and long commutes, can make accessing mental health care challenging. If you’re having difficulty finding a therapist to meet with in person or looking for something more convenient, consider an online therapy platform like BetterHelp.
With BetterHelp, you can meet with a qualified professional from any location with a reliable internet connection. Most people who sign up are matched with a therapist in as little as 48 hours, and you can change providers at any time for no additional fee until you find the right fit for you.
Research suggests that online treatment is effective, with a 2023 study finding that four weeks of online therapy typically led to decreased anger expression, aggression, and anger rumination.
Takeaway
Everyone may experience anger from time to time, but for people who have difficulty managing anger, this intense emotion can negatively impact their daily lives, relationships, and physical and mental health. Working with a therapist in person or online can help you discover what triggers your anger, how you can manage it, and the steps you may take to repair your relationships.
How do I fix my anger issues?
Taking responsibility for excessive anger or uncontrolled anger can be a helpful first step in addressing an anger problem. There are many helpful tools for controlling anger, such as removing yourself from the situation, avoiding jumping to conclusions, having quiet time to unwind, and practicing relaxation exercises. When you breathe deeply, for example, you may be able to defuse anger and reduce its physiological manifestations, such as an increased heart rate and muscle tension.
Why do I get angry so easily?
Not everyone responds to frustration in the same way, but some people may be more prone to anger due to a combination of factors. Those who anger more easily than the average person may be less tolerant of frustration, for example, and may have challenges processing and expressing uncomfortable feelings. Many people are also taught that expressing anger is not acceptable, so may find it challenging to manage this powerful emotional state. For instance, someone may not throw things or express anger overtly. For some, giving someone the silent treatment can be a passive-aggressive way to express anger. Anger can also be a sign of a mental health condition, such as bipolar disorder or depression.
What are the anger disorders?
Anger is a key feature of some mental health conditions, including oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), intermittent explosive disorder (IED), disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, bipolar disorder, and bipolar personality disorder.
Why do I have anger outbursts?
Anger outbursts can stem from many causes. For example, some people may have learned less helpful ways of managing frustration and challenging emotions in early childhood. Experiencing symptoms of stress or unresolved trauma can also make one more prone to outbursts. If you frequently experience anger outbursts, it may be related to having an underlying condition, such as intermittent explosive disorder, depression, substance use disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder.
What emotion is behind anger?
Anger can often hide unsettling emotions, such as hurt, disappointment, fear, shame, powerlessness, loneliness, helplessness, or embarrassment. Many psychologists believe that anger protects us from experiencing emotions that make us feel vulnerable and reminds us of a time when we might not have had much control over a situation. For some people, anger can be a way to exert control of feelings, even when misplaced.
Why do I get so angry over little things?
Some people may be more prone to anger than others, which may be due to genetic, physiological, or sociocultural factors. Getting easily angered can also be due to trauma, stress, having an underlying condition, or learned behavior. For example, growing up in an environment where anger was less skillfully managed may influence your way of handling anger and expressing emotions. Moreover, events affect each person differently. Those who are quick to anger may have a lower tolerance for frustrating situations that can trigger anger, such as having a driver cut you off on your daily commute.
Do anger issues ever go away?
The emotion of anger does not go away, but a person may learn to cope with anger by learning tools to manage this powerful emotion and address underlying concerns. Since uncontrolled anger tends to have a negative impact on one’s life and is also linked with health risk behaviors, seeking help from a mental health professional can be helpful for many people struggling to manage anger.
Do I have anger issues or bipolar?
Anger unrelated to bipolar disorder usually has a trigger, whereas bipolar disorder is associated with unprovoked anger attacks. Anger attacks can come suddenly, unprompted. However, anger and irritability are also prominent features of bipolar disorder, usually in connection with mixed mood states of depression and hypomania.
Can you heal anger issues?
Anger is an emotion that is part of the human experience. Anger is also a biological response to perceived threats to your well-being, personal integrity, or matters that seem unjust or unfair. While you may experience anger throughout your life, uncontrolled anger can be channeled and managed. For example, learning to own your anger, naming it, and observing its physical signs and how anger moves through your body is one tool to help you become more mindful of your experience. There are many useful tools for learning to live with and control anger, rather than have it control you.
What medication is used for anger?
Anger is an emotional state that is common to the human experience. While uncontrolled anger can be harmful, especially when it results in verbal or physically abusive behavior, everyone may experience anger from time to time, so there is no medication for the emotion of anger. However, medication can help treat different conditions that feature anger, such as intermittent explosive disorder or bipolar disorder. Depending on the associated condition that features anger, prescribed medications may include antidepressants, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antipsychotics, or other mood stabilizers.
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