ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Taming Anger

Updated on October 22, 2011

Anger A Normal Emotion

Anger is a completely normal emotion. It is normal to feel angry when you have been let down, betrayed or treated unfairly.

A certain amount of anger is necessary to your survival as it allows you to fight and defend yourself when you are attacked. But when anger gets out of control or turns destructive, it can lead to various problems such as domestic violence, spousal abuse, aggressive driving violations, disruption at the workplace and family fights.

It is impossible not to get angry about something. But it is how you act when you are angry that can makes a situation better or worse. You cannot physically lash out at every person or object that irritates or annoys you. You cannot get rid of or avoid things, people or situations that enrage you. Besides, you cannot change them, but you can learn to control your reactions.

How To Tame Your Anger

There are various strategies you can adopt to keep your anger at bay. First of all, don't take too much stress. The higher the level of stress, the easier it is to allow your anger to get out of control. In many situations you are unable to resolve conflicts or think rationally in an argument when your stress level is high. To avoid losing control either physically or verbally, it is often best to take a temporary time-out and leave. Try to cool yourself down during this time. Once you have calmed yourself, you can return to work things out.

Learn to express your feelings appropriately when you feel frustrated. If you can't find the right words to describe your feelings, find a trusted friend who can speak on your behalf. It is important for the people close to you to know what you are going through.

Anger like other emotions is accompanied by physiological changes. When you get angry, your heart rate and blood pressure increases. This is certainly not good for your health. To lower your heart rate and to let the angry feelings subside, calm yourself internally with the help of deep breathing and relaxing imagery. Imagine yourself at a park, a lake, or anywhere that makes you feel calm and peaceful. Try other thoughts that have helped you relax in the past.

Make time for things you enjoy and focus on positive things in your life. Take care of your physical health by exercising regularly, eating healthy meals, and getting enough sleep. Avoid smoking and alcohol. Make sure that you have some "personal time" particularly scheduled for stressful times of the day. Talk to someone with a good sense of humour or if there kids in your house, play with them. Non-strenuous, slow yoga-like exercises or a walk can relax your muscles and calm you down. Activities such as listening to music, painting, cooking, gardening, reading, or watching TV also helps to control angry feelings.

Always think before you speak or act. Some people jump to conclusions when they are angry which can be very inaccurate. Before your anger gets out of control and you say or do something that you might regret later, give yourself some time to think. If you are in a heated discussion, don't say the first thing that comes into your mind. Slow down and think carefully what you want to say. At the same time, listen carefully to what the other person is saying and take your time before answering. Try to understand the other person's point of view.

You can also calm yourself down by just thinking about the benefits of controlling your anger and the consequences of losing control. People who manage their anger well have better relationships, better health, and more success than those who manage their anger poorly. Uncontrolled anger can negatively affect the overall quality of your life and can result in a loss of respect which would make you unhappy. Witnessing extreme conflict in the home can have devastating effects on children, both mentally and physically.

Conclusions

Remember that getting angry is not going to fix anything, and it won't make you feel better. Uncontrolled anger may actually make you feel worse. Learn to control your anger and don't let anger control you.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)