Anger is an emotional reaction caused by a perceived threat or danger, which can occur in response to various situations such as physical conflict, injustice, humiliation or betrayal (Hendricks, 2013).  When angry, the brain triggers an emergency stress response, which, if chronic, can cause a variety of health concerns.  Some of these include: high blood pressure, muscle tension, anxiety, and depression.  Evidence also indicates that it is associated with an increased risk of illness including cancer, heart disease, chronic pain, even premature ageing. Beyond the mental and physical effects, it can can also impair daily activities such as work, education, leisure, home management and relationships.  Therefore, addressing chronic anger or learning to manage it in a constructive way is vitally important to prevent violence, illness and improve quality of life.  

Anger Management 

There are many different types of techniques you can try to heal from chronic anger.  The most effective method in the case of persistent anger would be to work with a mental health practitioner.  However, for mild anger, you may find that applying the following self-care Psychological Processing Technique (PPT) works well for you. It combines proven methods that may help to reduce symptoms of anger.  

PPT Procedure:  

1. What have you observed that is affecting your wellbeing? 

2. What emotions do you feel when you think about this situation?  Where in your body do you feel these emotions?  How do they feel? (e.g. heavy, light, hot, cold, tight) 

3. Assess the intensity of the emotions; for instance, zero equals no anger, and ten equals extreme anger.

4. Acknowledge and accept how you are feeling.  For example, “I feel angry that Marge lied; I feel this anger in my jaw, it feels tight and tense”.  

5. Using two fingers, tap between your eyebrows 12 times. Now tap under your eyes 12 times (both simultaneously). Now tap on the area above the upper lip, beneath the nostrils, 12 times. Next, tap on your chin 12 times; then tap in the middle of your collarbone, beneath your throat, 12 times.  Now hold your head still, and roll your eyes clockwise and then anticlockwise, 3 times.  

6. Now practice the 5/11 breathing technique for a few minutes. This involves breathing in to the count of 5, and exhaling to the count of 11.

7. Repeat steps 1 to 5 until the anger or other negative emotions have substantially reduced.

8. Now ask yourself: “What are my needs in this situation?”.  For example, “for Marge to be kind and honest”.    

9.  Try to reframe the situation.  For example, perhaps the behaviour was not intended to be malicious?  Or maybe you learned something from the experience?  Reframing a negative experience can significantly reduce negative emotions and develop creativity, so spend a bit of time considering alternative ways you can view the situation.     

10. Next, identify ways to solve this problem.  You might ask yourself: “What needs to change?” or “How can I resolve this?” Write a list of solutions.  

11. Now prioritise, decide on and implement the listed solutions!

I hope this helps.  If you would like to learn about other strategies, or for an individually tailored approach to resolving chronic anger, please call or email Sadaf to book a free consultation.  

Also, if you would like to assess your anger levels you can visit: Anger Test 

Wishing you all the best.

Sadaf