Life gives us endless supply of situations to be angry about. A famous quote about anger says that the words you will regret most in rest of your life are those said in anger.
It happens with all of us. In life, there are moments of test, to which we fail to succeed and pass all barriers of negative emotions. Anger is the negative emotion in our life which is eroding our intellect emotionally. The influence of uncontrolled anger overpowers you and negatively affects your psychosomatic system. There is scientific proof about this. Studies have shown that the capacity of heart to pump blood gets affected negatively by anger. Anger causes spasms to arteries in the body including the coronary arteries which supply blood to the heart. One such intense episode of uncontrolled anger, may result in heart attack.
Being angry is a natural, adaptive reaction to threats. Anger often creates powerful and sometimes explosive emotions and behaviors, which causes the feeling to fight and to defend ourselves when we are attacked. Therefore, a certain minimum amount of anger, is essential for our survival.
Similarly, we can't physically attack every person or object that angers us. Legal, social and ethical norms and common sense place some barriers on how far our anger can take us.
We use both conscious and sub-conscious processes to deal with our emotions related to anger. The three main approaches are expressing, suppressing, and calming.
Expressing your anger in an assertive instead of aggressive manner is the healthiest way to express anger. To accomplish this, you should learn to make clear to yourself about your needs and methods to fulfill them without offending others. The difference between being assertive and being aggressive should be understood clearly. Being assertive doesn't mean being rude or demanding; it means being respectful to yourself and others.
Many people use this method of suppressing anger. They suppress or redirect or convert their anger into some behavior. They stop thinking about it, and focus on something positive. They divert their attention to other things. Their aim is to inhibit or suppress their anger and channelise its energy for constructive work. In this type of behavior, outward expression of the anger is inhibited-which can imply that it is getting turned inward. The consequences of this type of behavior are dangerous for health. It creates chronic mental stress which in turn may cause several diseases and disorders like hypertension, high blood pressure, or depression.
Unexpressed anger may create several other psychological and behavioral problems. It may lead to pathological expressions of anger leading to what is known as passive-aggressive behavior.
People who have not learned how to constructively express their anger, suffer from passive aggressive behavior. The person suffering from this disorder gets back at people indirectly, without telling them why, rather than confronting them head-on. The person may seem to be perpetually cynical and hostile towards others. He or she may perpetually criticise others and give negative remarks about them on their back. Such people cannot succeed in making many friends in society. Moreover, their relationship with family members also gets strained.
