adminAnger is a fundamental emotion that everyone experiences from time to time.
From a very early age, people learn to express anger by copying the angry behaviour they see modelled around them, and by expressing angry behaviour and seeing what they can get away with.
As our culture has an uneasy relationship with anger expression, many people are brought up to think that it is inappropriate to express anger directly; that it must not be tolerated; that it is always dangerous.
Such people learn to distrust anger, to bottle it up and ignore it, to express it only in indirect ways or to use it as a weapon.
Anger in it self is not always bad. Angry people may be capable of great violence.
However, while anger can certainly be abused, it is more than a simple destructive force.
Anger is also a critically important part of what might be called the self-preservation and self-defence instincts.
People who are incapable of getting angry are also incapable of standing up for themselves.
It is important then that people learn how to express anger appropriately.
People need to learn healthy and socially respectful ways to express angry feelings, and to not to let anger get out of control to the point where it negatively affects relationships, employability and health.
An anger problem exists when people become dependent on anger as a primary means of expressing themselves; when they inappropriately use anger or the threat of violence as a weapon to get their way.
Inappropriate and uncontrolled anger is harmful for both targets of anger and the angry person as well.
Inappropriate anger destroys relationships, marriages, makes it difficult to hold down a job, and takes a heavy toll on angry people’s physical and emotional health.
Help for anger problems does exists in the form of anger management programmes.
These interventions are designed to help angry people learn and practice methods of bringing their anger under control.
It starts with a discussion of the nature of anger and anger’s effects on people’s social, emotional and physical welfare.
Reasons and motivations for pursuing anger management are discussed, and then specific techniques used in anger management courses are described.
This is best done by a specialist mental health practitioner like your psychiatrist and psychologist.
Do not destroy your destiny and future by ignoring an emotion that can be controlled.
Dr Sacrifice Chirisa is a passionate mental health specialist based at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, one of the country’s major referral hospitals.
Online Reporter