Racism, sexism and all the various other “hate these people” isms and phobias are arguably methods for expressing and rationalizing anger. And they’re bad. But what’s a good way?
Invest in a manual typewriter and cathartically type out ranty letters by pressing each key as hard as possible.
Talking to the people involved in a calm and rational way works for most human interactions.
Exercise is a good way to work out the things that don’t yield to logic.
Self appraisal and making positive changes in your life and/or environment is another way.
I spent years thinking I hated work, then I found a job where I used my natural talents and fit in.
Playing competitive video games (might not be healthy for everybody)
I had to stop playing DotA…
Metalworking? Pounding a piece of steel with a hammer for an hour or two sounds like a great way to blow off some steam
What works for me :
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I remove myself from the situation that caused the anger.
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I let myself live the anger for a minute or two, or a bit more if needed.
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When the anger is gone, I identify what emotion is the cause of anger. Anger is 99% a reaction to a negative emotion.
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I say outloud to myself the reason of my anger. Otherwise, I feel like the anger is pent-up.
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If my anger was directed at someone, I apologize and explain why I was angry.
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Finally, I reflect on the situation and the emotions I experienced. Sometimes it’s 30 seconds, sometimes it’s a few days, depending on the gravity of the situation. By understanding what caused the negative emotions, I can handle it better in the future.
This is a nice way to look at anger. Kind of similar to something my therapist said a long time ago. #3 specifically is a huge one.
I figured out that my issue was that I wasn’t able to identify the emotions I had.
I worked with my therapist to learn to catch myself when I get angry, then I learned to accept the anger and finally identify the negative emotion.
By doing that, I don’t hold on to that anger most of the time, and when I do, it’s a lot shorter.
And by identifying the underlying emotion, I can live the emotion and then redirect it. Overall, it made a big difference in my life.
I will always be stuck with anger as my first reaction to a negative emotion. But it is a lot healthier now.
Usually with regard to the 3rd step, I realize it’s a series of smaller frustrations that have led up to the huge angry outburst. One or two things go wrong, OK I can usually handle it. But after that, get outta the way because I’m like an exploding nuclear warhead. I’ve driven off more than one friend and roommate with my 0 to suddenly 100 rage.
This is why it is important to learn to identify the smaller frustrations to stop them from building up. Smaller frustrations are easier to deal with, so it is a good idea to take a minute or two to just deal with them right when they happen. It will stop most of the bigger outbursts.
That’s very true, smaller frusts are easier to deal with. I usually have to step away from the situation and let myself breathe and try to talk myself out of “catastrophizing” every situation.
Same for me. It works, and I can just vent to myself and move on with my life.
But sometimes, the big outbursts are inevitable considering the context. But that’s life.
Yeah I think it’s inevitable sometimes. I’m also working to try and catch myself before it gets to that point, but sometimes it just happens. I try to remember that causing damage will only makes thing much worse than they are already, and I can use that energy for something I really want to be doing instead.
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Using it to fuel the motivation to change things. Get mad that you tripped over a cable? Time to finally do something about cable management. Is your boss or your job making you furious? Take the time to explore new opportunities. Pissed at how politics are going? Find out who represents your district and write them an email about the topic and make your voice heard. Anger can be a good thing when it makes someone get off their butt and make a change for the better.
Shouting and cursing at my computer. It definitely helps with debugging, too.
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Consider what it is and why it made you angry
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Think about ways to avoid that issue/reason again
2.5. If that reason is a person, figure out if there’s anything you can reasonably do to change the situation which caused the anger
- If you can make changes, make them. If not, don’t fret over it and continue your day with the full understanding that you’ve done all you can and it isn’t worth any more of your time.
I my life, anger has always been a very short lived emotion. I cannot fathom being actively angry for more than 30 seconds at a time. Even if I hit the full 30 I figure it’s probably time to break from whatever I’m doing and hydrate/eat.
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Sport
Punching a punching bag, or a pillow.
See a therapist
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Protesting, peacefully
Once a therapist told me that a lot of the time anger is a secondary emotion; that is, it’s an emotion that comes out of another emotion.
So you don’t necessarily get angry out of nothing, but you get angry because you’re scared, or disappointed, or you feel wronged, or something else.
So their recommendation was to identify the emotion that’s making you angry, and express/rationalize that instead.
As a teen, I would consciously turn hurt into hate to avoid it. I was emotionally aware enough to know that I was running from it, but not emotionally aware enough to confront it. Therapy works, folks.
Agreed. Say, past trauma. Leading to anxiety, anger and etc.
I don’t put much hope rational analysis.
Maybe solitude and meditation. Maybe a month in the forest with friends and a big bag of shrooms.
Excuse me, but sometimes, I just want to be angry and not “rationalize the causes of my anger”. I think it’s fully okay to be pissed about something and wanting to vocalize your anger without immediately neutering it by “expressing” the thing that made you angry instead. I would even say that trying to extinguish your emotions constantly will cause you to explode like a pressure cooker one day. You are just invalidating your own emotional reaction. Same thing applies when someone hurts me. You hurt me, goddamn it, I am gonna tell you why I got hurt, but most importantly, I am going to express how much I got hurt.
So if someone you love tells you if you want to have good job prospects you shouldn’t get a face tattoo, it’s okay to get angry at them right away because they hurt your feelings?
I think the point here is people get angry at stuff all the time that they shouldn’t be angry at. Helpful advice, someone pulling in front of them in traffic, online comments disagreeing with them, etc. it’s good to make sure you understand why you’re angry, or else you’re just blind.
A lot of people might be angry about the face tattoo comment, and leave it at “the other person is being mean / closed minded”, then proceed to go and get one, then continue to be angry the rest of their lives when they can’t get a job.
Reflecting on things in general, especially emotion, means you grow. It’s self education.
Usually it’s my own stupidity, clumsiness, dumb decisions, or ignorance, and knowing that just makes me more angry :/
And it’s good to recognize that! It means now you know to work on self-compassion (which is really hard but really worth doing)
I get angry because of frustration about things beyond my control that impact me negatively and can’t simply be ignored. Knowing that extra step is great and all, but doesn’t reduce the frustration or the anger. I’m sure that identifying the difference is helpful to some people who can ignore or address the actual cause of their anger.
Note: I don’t get angry about frustrating things that I can do something about, or can be ignored.
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