How to control anger before it controls you

Anyone can become angry, that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way- this is not easy”. – Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics Say, a car cuts dangerously close to you as you are driving on the freeway, or another person broke the queue in the bank you were waiting so long, or your spouse didn’t arrive at the time he promised for a dinner date.

What will be your first reaction? Is it the immense trajectory of anger, rage and disgust, followed by more thoughts of outrage and revenge? Or contrary to the above, you pause for a sensible consideration and try to reason out for the behaviour.

The driver who cut you off could be having some medical emergency, the person who broke the queue may be having something very urgent, or my spouse can’t keep me waiting unnecessarily; something very urgent must have required his attention for the moment.

The research findings clearly state that for more than 50 per cent of the population, an outburst of rage is the immediate reaction, causing serious impairment to both body and mind. There is scientific evidence across the world showing that even momentary anger results in worsened muscle’s ability to pump blood, a catalyst in escalating high blood pressure and subsequent complications (heart diseases, heart attacks, stroke and metabolic syndromes).

In a study done in the USA, researchers found that people have a twofold increase in heart attacks within two hours after an anger outburst. Anger can hinder digestion; and sleep patterns and induce emotional disorders like anxiety and depression.

With the available studies of anger related to poor health (both physical and mental), still a very large proportion of the population is prone to anger. What could be the probable reason for the same?

Primarily, it could be its seductive, exhilarating, energising and persuasive nature. However, the careful studies done by Dolf Zillmann, a psychologist at the University of Alabama testifies that the universal trigger for anger is the sense of being endangered. This endangerment could be a straight outright physical threat and/ or as in more often the case, a systematic threat to self-esteem or dignity. The very feeling of being treated unjustly or rudely, being insulted or demeaned, being unable in pursuing an important goal could be the reason for venting out the rage.

But what about the individual who rages on even at the drop of a pin? There it does not seem to be any threat, be it physical or otherwise. Then what could be the probable cause for the anger of such an individual?

In the above-mentioned example, the individual is not facing any direct threat but his perception of an endangerment to his authority, a question about his mental block of being morally correct, being ignored and unheard could be trigger points for his self-esteem. As rightly marked by Dr. Wayne Dyer, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”. In that case individual’s own cocoon of mental fixedness make him a propellant of rage.

These perceptions work at both neural and cognitive levels.

At the neural level, there is a dual-instigating trigger that affects the brain. One part of that surge is the release of catecholamines, generating a quick episodic rush of energy, enough for “one course of vigorous activities” used in fight or flight mode. Another is amygdala-driven that ripples through the adrenocortical branch of nervous system creating a general toxic background of action readiness, lasting for more time than the catecholamine energy surge. This generalised adrenal and cortical excitation can last for hours and even for days, keeping the emotional brain ready for arousal. In general hair trigger conditions created by adrenocortical arousal explains why people are prone to so much anger even at the very minimal issues at times.

At the cognitive level, there is a sequence of angry thoughts working as a train, where every successive anger-provoking thought or perception becomes a mini trigger for amygdala-driven surges of catecholamines, each building on the hormonal momentum of those that went before. A second comes before the first has subsided, and a third on the top of those and so on; each wave rides the tails of those before; quickly escalating the body’s level of physiological arousal. Escalating anger is “a set of provocations each triggering an excitatory reaction that dissipates slowly”.

Anger is the instinct outcome of emotional brain without having much support of rational brain. Now, the question arises is the anger something uncontrollable and venting out a better option? Sometimes, venting out the rage could be considered as one of the ways to handle it. The very seductive nature of it may render a feeling of satisfaction. But the careful scientific studies done put forward that giving vent to anger did little or nothing to dispel it.

The outburst of anger typically pumps up the emotional brain’s arousal, leaving people feeling angrier. “Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured” well quoted by Mark Twain.

Or can one get rid of anger completely? The very statement sounds phoney and lacks a scientific understanding. The emotion of anger has been engraved in human beings since cave times, one can only work out to have control of it and use it wisely as outlined by Aristotle.

It was in 1899 for the first time when scientific studies were done on anger and since then the following strategies have been chalked out to balm anger.

Cooling off physiologically- In the cooling off period one deliberately ignores the individual/ situation responsible for escalating anger for some time and puts a break on hostile thoughts by seeking distraction in the form of a long walk/drive, exercising, reading, and/ or watching movies. It helps in settling down the adrenal surge and de-escalating the triggers for rage.

Penning down one’s hostile thoughts as they occur. Writing a journal of one’s feelings helps in activating prefrontal cortex, giving a strength to rational brain.

Seizing and challenging the thoughts that trigger the anger preferably at the very onset of it. Here timing plays a crucial role. Earlier one puts a hold on his anger thoughts train, easier it is to calm down.

Practicing mindfulness along with cognitive behavioural therapies. In Indian culture mindfulness and its effects on wholesome health have been explained and discussed in length almost 10000 years ago. Now with the scientific galore and with added research in concerned areas, it has been concluded that mindfulness done with cognitive behavioural therapy under expert guidance helps an individual in maintaining internal harmony With the help of the above scientific knowledge, help yourself in controlling anger, before it controls you.

Source: Timesofindia

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