Understanding anger, it's ill-effects and how to successfully manage it - Part 2

So, continuing from the previous post regarding how anger is one of the most basic emotions and learning to handle it successfully is one of the most important life skills. (Click here to read part 1)

But before we learn about the different ways, we can handle the feelings of anger, it is important to understand why we need to do it in the first place. So here are some of the harms and ill-effects that have been studied and proven for people who have issues of anger management. 

One of the main things, that you might be able to relate with easily as well, is that, more often than not, we tend to regret losing our temper and getting angry, as soon as we have calmed down a bit. And it mostly does not matter who was at fault and how stupid an action he or she had taken to enrage you. So, even though the anger stayed with you for probably a few seconds or a few minutes – or maybe in some cases for up to a couple of hours – the regret that we feel stays with us for almost the whole day and even the next and sometimes over even more days. 

In effect, it harms you more than the person you are getting angry upon, because you are left with the guilty feelings after the event, and it occupies your mind, while you keep trying to justify your reaction. 

Anger has been linked to a myriad of problems and ill-effects on the human body, ranging from loss of lung function, to early onset of baldness, memory loss in the long term, even leading to dementia, having difficulty concentrating and weakening of the eyesight (so literally you become blind with rage)

Studies have shown that a person’s immune system gets weakened for a few hours after he has had a fit of rage and been angry about something, thereby putting him at greater risk of getting sick.

Short tempered people also have a lower life expectancy compared to the average life span of the population. 

Another study also connected anger to an increase in the risk of heart attacks, which is more likely to occur within 2 hours of being angry. So, if you think that by being angry you are going to get things off your chest, well you are in for a rude surprise, it exactly the opposite of that.

The other obvious ones, which everyone can easily associate with anger is the sudden and acute increase in stress levels and rise in the person’s blood pressure. 

It also drains your energy and strength after an initial surge in the levels of stress hormones, which then makes you feel more tired and lethargic for quite some time after the feelings have subsided.

Other than the physical ill-effects that anger has, there are also social costs attached to it, by which it does have an impact on your overall image and reputation among your friends, relatives and colleagues and it creates a distinct sourness in relationships, which then become hard to mend. 

It also indicates that the person lacks power and control over themselves. You see, one does not choose or plan to get angry, it is almost always an instinctive reaction, which gets out of control most of the times. Like we say, he has lost his mind.

And instincts normally get developed and cultivated as a habit, hence over time this becomes the normal behaviour of the person and they somehow become oblivious to the fact that they need to rein in those feelings. 

But there is a silver lining in the above statement, which means, if the bad behaviour has been cultivated into a habit over time, similarly you are able to learn and cultivate the instinct of having a calmer reaction.

I will share some of the tips and techniques of how to successfully manage anger and get on top of your emotions in the next post 

(Click here to continue reading part 3…)