What Can I Do About Anger?
Understanding more about what anger is and where anger comes from can be a great first step in gaining some control and mastery over this challenging emotion. While it may not feel like it, there is actually a space between the initial feeling of threat and the response of anger. As you get more aware of what triggers your anger, you can get better at noticing the initial feeling or emotion and not just the anger. If you simply allow anger to run its typical route through your brain and your body, you will eventually see anger causing problems in your life and in your relationships.
Once you begin to practice watching for the initial emotion underlying the response of anger you can begin to use some techniques that will assist you to manage your anger more effectively. Some of the questions you may ask yourself as you notice that anger is present can include thoughts like:
- What am I afraid of?
- Am I trying to control something?
- What do I have control of in this situation?
- Why is this bothering me so much?
- Are there other situations that feel like this for me?
As you ask these questions you will notice that you are better able to stay in the more helpful part of your brain, rather than moving into the survival part of your brain where constructive solutions are less likely to be found.