Controlling Your Anger & Frustration Before It Controls You: Types, Symptoms, and Long Term Effects
Anger is a normal feeling to experience. But when we lose control of it, anger can be one of the most damaging emotions.
At its core, anger is a driving force to find resolutions. It’s considered a necessity for human survival. However, out of control or excessive frustration can harm our mental and physical health. It can also damage ourrelationships with others
For those who have difficulty controlling their anger, psychologists can help identify specific triggers, and give you tools to manage them before things spiral out of control.
What Causes Anger?
A few of the main contributors to a person’s anger are:
Stress
Finances
Abuse
Social issues
Familial situations
Strain on your time and energy
Like with other disorders, environment plays a huge role. Difficulties controlling one’s anger may be more prevalent in those who were raised in a family with the same issues.
Your body’s overall ability todeal with certain hormones and chemicals may also play a role. If your brain is unable to react in a normal fashion to serotonin, it could be more likely that you will struggle to manage your emotions appropriately.
Emotional Symptoms of Anger
For those who suffer with anger problems, you may think that your anger-related emotions are strictly anger alone. However, there are a number of different emotional states than could be encouraging your anger issues to be aggravated.
A few of them are:
Irritability
Rage
Anxiety
Depression
Physical Symptoms of Anger
Strong emotions are capable of bringing on physical changes to one’s body, as well. Allowing your anger to go unmanaged can cause serious ramifications for your health in the longrun.
Some are:
Heart palpitations
Pain or tightness in your chest
Increase in blood pressure
Pressure in your head or sinuses
Headaches
Fatigue
Short and Long-Term Effects
When someone has unresolved anger problems, it can lead path to chronic anxiety.
Immediate symptoms might include things such as problems concentrating, headaches, muscle tension and pain, dizziness, rapid breathing, and nausea. Such debilitating symptoms can make it incredibly difficult to perform day to day activities and tasks, which can lead to more irrational anger.
Long-term anxiety may also pose an increased risk to both your physical and emotional states. Those who deal with chronic anxiety could be at a higher risk for relationship issues, sleep disorders, memory loss, and even stroke.
Depression and anger also go hand in hand. This can cause a revolving door that is difficult to stop. Long-term depression can make it difficult for one to handle their emotions appropriately, increasing your chances of a violent outburst.
Often, with both cases, professional help is needed to combat this cycle. (Reference 1)
What Does Uncontrolled Anger Look Like?
Uncontrolled anger can be very difficult to define as it is not a standard diagnosis, such as depression or anxiety. Moreover, it varies in appearance from person to person. For some, a quiet seething gives the impression of one being cold and standoffish. For others, they can be quick to throw a tantrum and exhibit aggressive or violent behavior.
Because short-term anger holds the ability to be effective, those who experience uncontrolled anger regularly don’t tend to notice the problem. For example, yelling at someone who disobeyed commands may allow for a more speedy process going forward; however, an outburst aimed at your child for not cleaning their room is different from the same behavior aimed at a colleague for slacking off.
Unfortunately, those with uncontrolled anger issues oftentimes fail to see the long-term consequences of their behavior. From additional psychological problems, to physical ailments—such as high blood pressure, all the way to social disharmony with family, friends, and coworkers. Losing your temper may feel right at the moment but it can cause detrimental effects down the road.
Five warning signs that you may have an uncontrollable anger problem include:
A change in behavior from loved ones, including distancing themselves from you.
Strained relationships with coworkers.
Being told you are unwelcome at events or even businesses.
Grudges that will not go away.
Thoughts of revenge, anger, or violence. (Reference 2)
Different Types of Anger
Those who struggle with anger issues may fall into having an anger disorder. Although experts have contradicting opinions, some forms of anger are widely accepted across the medical industry.
They are:
Chronic Anger
Chronic, or prolonged, anger is capable of impacting one’s immune system and subsequently causing other mental disorders down the road. This may include disorders such as anxiety or depression.
Passive Anger
Instead of openly addressing frustrations or negative feelings, those with passive anger indirectly express their thoughts in a passive-aggressive manner. In fact, some individuals who experience passive anger may not even realize they are angry. Oftentimes, it can appear that you are self-sabotaging to outsiders. It may be hard for one to realize they have passive anger on their own. A trained counselor would be able to help identify the emotions behind your actions so you are able to better deal with them.
Overwhelmed Anger
When life’s demands become too much for one person, they can begin to act out their frustrations and stress in the form of anger towards themselves or other people.
Self-inflicted Anger
Self-inflicted anger is directed toward one's self. Guilt is a leading cause, though it may stem from a variety of reasons.. Examples include beating oneself up emotionally about past mistakes or even physically harming yourself.
Judgmental Anger
Often accompanied by feelings of resentment, judgmental anger targets other people. Jealousy is a prime example.
Volatile Anger
The most dangerous, volatile anger can be unpredictable and may involve excessive amounts of spontaneous bouts of violence. Those who suffer from volatile anger are almost always aware of their emotions, however many times they don’t fully understand why they are experiencing them. (Reference 1)
Help Your Patients Take Back Control
At Mental Health Technologies, we understand that what is visible on the surface may have underlying causes that might not be quite as prominent.
With our convenient diagnostic screening tool, patients are given the opportunity to answer sensitive questions from the comfort of their own homes, allowing them more time to give thought to their answers and providing physicians with more honest feedback.
Contact one of our thoroughly trained customer service representatives today. We would love to speak with you.
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