Anger is a very powerful emotion that can stem from feelings of frustrations, annoyance, or disappointment. Anger is a normal emotion that can range from the slight irritation to strong rage.

Anger can be harmful or helpful, depending upon how it is expressed. Knowing how to recognize and express anger in appropriate ways can help us to reach goals, handle emergencies, and solve problems. However, problems can occur when we fail to recognize and understand our anger.

Suppressed anger can be an underlying cause of anxiety and depression. Anger that is not appropriately expressed can harm relationships, cloud thinking, and create self-defeating behavior patterns. Suppressed anger can even cause physical problems. Chronic long-term anger has been linked to health issues such as high blood pressure, heart problems, headaches, skin disorders, digestive problems, and functional pain. Excessive, unresolved anger can be linked to problems such as crime, physical abuse, and family violence.

Steps to manage anger:

One key to managing anger is to defer reacting to it. Since anger is associated with a rush of adrenaline, it is usually important to take time to let the adrenaline work itself out of our system before we act. Techniques for delaying our reaction when angry include leaving the scene, brisk exercise like jogging or waking, and self talk which reminds us of our goals and the reasons we want to control our anger.

Avoid repression of anger:

Controlled, appropriate expressions of anger are better than keeping it in. Repressed anger can cause a wide range of problems for the individual over time. One key to making the transitions from uncontrolled rage to appropriately expressed anger is learning how to be assertive. A second step is to gain a different perspective by putting ourselves in the place of the person or persons who have offended us. Ultimately we strive to be able to listen to our opponent without the need to agree with their position. Learning to be assertive and express feelings while avoiding being defensive can be a very powerful tool, one that usually enables us to achieve our goals.