GRRR!!! Anger Issues:

 https://www.berkeleywellbeing.com/anger-issues.html

Anger Issues: Definition, Management, and Tips to Control Anger​

By Tchiki Davis, MA, PhD

What is anger, what are common anger issues, and how do you control your anger? Find out more about the science behind anger to better understand its roots and how to manage anger issues.

Anger is an intense emotion, generally directed towards others as a result of a perceived threat or unfair treatment and caused by discomfort, pain, and other people. Anger includes physiological arousal (activation of fight and flight responses), changes in cognitive thought processes (for example, heightened attention to threat), and changes in facial expressions such as furrowed eyebrows and downturned lips.

Feedback loops where anger continues to build on itself can result in physical or verbal aggression, generally directed towards others (Alia-Klein et al, 2020). But anger is extremely common. Historical records suggest that it has been common to get at least mildly angry a few times per day to a few times per week (Berkowitz & Harmon-Jones, 2004). So what, exactly, are anger issues? And when does anger become an issue?

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What Are Anger Issues?​

To better understand anger issues, let's first talk about where anger comes from. We may know anger from having experienced it, but what is anger? Anger has been defined as a negative emotion that arises when something blocks our movement toward a desired goal. This suggests that anger is simply a disruption in what psychologists call ' approach motivation' (Carver & Harmon-Jones, 2009).

Approach motivation is our natural tendency to pursue good things—positive feelings, goals, and other outcomes. This is in contrast to avoidance motivation, which our natural tendency to avoid bad things—often things were afraid of or otherwise don't want to deal with.

Most negative emotions involve avoidance motivation. They make us want to retreat, hide, or run away. Positive emotions, on the other hand, generally lead us to want to approach things. This understanding of emotions makes anger a very unusual emotion indeed. Anger and other anger-like emotions are the only approach-focused negative emotions that we know of. With anger, we don't want to run away—we want to fight! 

So, anger is a special negative emotion that has its own unique function and benefits. Although managing and controlling anger is necessary to function in the modern world, we want to do so carefully because anger does not like to be suppressed or ignored (more on that soon). 

Anger as an Emotion​

Anger is truly a unique emotion. Although all emotions are somewhat social (they are caused by others and affect others), anger is often thought to be the most social negative emotion. It often involves a desire to make an uncomfortable situation for someone who has made our situation uncomfortable. Often, we seek to right what we perceive as a wrong (this is righteous anger). And as a result, our anger can actually result in rectifying injustice and restoring a positive emotional state for ourselves (Carver & Harmon-Jones, 2009). So it's important to remember that even though anger can be uncomfortable, it has an important purpose. As long as we use it in a wise and controlled manner, it can help us achieve what we want in life.

Anger emotions
Anger is an emotion and is differentiated from actions such as aggression and violence (Thomas, 2001). Other emotions that are closely related to anger include:

• Frustration
• Contempt
• Outrage
• Fury
• Bitterness
• Hatred
• Resentment

​Each of these emotions differs from anger either in intensity or quality, but they often co-occur and are experienced similarly.