Anger is a normal emotion. It triggers a feeling in your brain when the situation is unjust, upsetting, or threatening. We have a misconception that anger is bad. It’s perfectly normal to feel angry when you are wronged or mistreated. But it becomes a problem when your anger harms yourself or others.
You believe that letting your anger out is healthy. The problem is people are too sensitive to take your anger, or you need to show anger to get respect. The attitude of justifying this behavior is wrong. It is more likely to leave a negative impact on the people and your judgment. As well as stand in the way of success. People start tagging you with words that will make you question your self-worth and avoid interacting with you because anything can trigger your anger.
Anger becomes problematic when it leads to outbursts, aggression, or even physical altercations. Many people believe that anger management is about learning how to suppress your anger. However, getting angry is a healthy emotion. Just like any other emotion, anger will come out no matter how much you control it. The goal isn’t to hide but learning how to express your rage healthily without losing control.
Doing this will help you feel better, get your needs met, manage conflict in life, and strengthen your relationships. Here are some techniques and strategies for healthy anger management.
1. Understand the Triggers
Did you ever argue over silly things? Big fights often start with small incidents, like being slightly late, or a dish left out. But there’s a big issue hiding behind your anger. Ask yourself- what’s making you angry? Why are you feeling irritated? Identifying the source of your anger will help you understand your outbreak better. If you’re showing frustration on small things, it means you’re hiding your true feelings.
We believe external factors trigger your anger, such as insensitive actions by other people, or frustrating situations. Anger has nothing to do with what happens in the outer circle. It is ignited based on how you perceive these situations — for example- overgeneralizing, jumping to conclusions, overlooking for things that upset you, and blaming.
The point is to identify the thought patterns responsible for your anger. Learn how to reframe your thoughts. Are your thoughts real? Can you see the conclusion more positively? Do you see both the side of the story? Keep asking yourself before you conclude people or situations.
2. Learn How to Cool Down
Once you start recognizing the warning signs of your temper, you can act quickly before it spins out of control. You can implement some exercise that will help you cool down quickly.
- Take deep, slow breaths. It helps to counteract tension in your body. Breathe deeply from the abdomen and get as much as fresh air you can.
- Take a brisk walk in the fresh air. Keep walking and listen to soothing music. Music tones down your anger, and you can approach the situation with a positive mind.
- Start counting to the point your brain is busy. Is it one thousand one hundred or one thousand and nine hundred? When juggling with numbers, the only thing you want is reaching the end of the counting. But by the end of counting, you might forget what happened just now. You ignored your anger.
3. Get a Pet
One of the best decisions I made is having the responsibility of caring for needs that were not my own. When anger gets out of control, we do things that make us feel guilty. I wanted to work on my feelings of anger and the guilt that comes after.
To bring positivity and happiness in my life, I started to babysit my sister’s dog. I learned how a pet could change my attitude and behavior. Babysitting allowed me to learn how to take care of another living being. So I adopted a dog.
Whenever I feel angry, I have a dog to lighten up my mood. Taking a walk in the park, playing for 15 minutes every day, and learning to take care of a dog has helped me to manage my anger better.
4. Start Taking Care of Yourself
Take care of your mental and physical wellbeing to diffuse anger and ease tension. If your stress levels are skyrocketing, it’s difficult to control your temper.
- Try relaxation techniques such as progressive muscle relaxation, mindfulness meditation, or deep breathing. You’ll feel more control over your emotions.
- Talk to someone about your stress, your uncontrolled anger, and what it is doing to your thought process. Share it with a friend or loved one. They might not have the right answer, but they can listen to your outburst. You need to talk about your feelings and seek different perspectives on a situation.
- Get enough sleep. A lack of sleep brings negative thoughts. Try to get a healthy seven to nine hours of sleep.
- Burn-off tension with an exercise. An excellent 30-minute workout can make you feel more relaxed and positive throughout the day.
- Make smart choices about alcohol and drugs. Alcohol or drugs can lower your inhibitions, making it harder to control your anger. Even too much caffeine makes you prone to anger.
5. Seek Professional Help When Needed
Despite including anger management techniques in your life, your anger is still out of control or getting into trouble and hurting others. It’s time to seek professional help.
Join anger management classes. This will allow you to meet others going through similar struggles and share the same experiences. Add individual or group therapy as a part of your anger management practice.
It’s a great way to identify triggers and work on a solution to curb them. Therapy can also help you find a safe place to learn healthy ways of expressing anger.
