WOULD YOU ALLOW ANGER TO OVERTAKE YOU

Almost every living being is born with a survival triad - fight, flight and freeze. We fight when cornered, take flight if circumstances are grave and freeze to avoid getting noticed if that one is the most appreciated strategy. These all are natural survival instincts which help save the life of a trained practitioner. Controlled anger is part of the fight strategy which everyone experiences off and on during their lifetime. There is no bodily impact by mild angry mood but the problem arises when one is unable to control oneself and gets excessively angry, thereby, impacting relationships and quality of life. Sometimes, anger may be responsible for gross injury or even loss of life. That is the simple logic to conclude that we should understand and manage anger, an emotion we are born with.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ARE ANGRY?
Your heart rate races up, your breath becomes deeper and your stomach starts churning. Jaw clenching, teeth grinding, sweating, body shaking and trembling are part of a strong anger response. If not controlled at this stage, the muscles get tense with feelings of fainting and leg weakness. Prolonged anger episode is characterized by shouting, abuse, threats, yelling, and crying which some people try to control by smoking or alcohol intake or throwing and breaking things. Anger activates significant inflammation in body tissues and recurrent episodes may lead to the development of chronic diseases as age advances. Hence, the cause of anger should be resolved at the earliest otherwise there would be a price tag in form of a lifelong ailment. The underlying causes of triggering anger are numerous. A threat or an attack, frustration, powerlessness, deception, and unfair treatment all cause some degree of anger even in people well-trained to maintain their calm. What is important is the degree of loss of temper. There are so many issues with partners, coworkers, family members, friends and clients that may be responsible for the burst of anger and irritation. Traffic jams, c a l l o u s government or private staff, body ailments or pain, hunger and extreme weather may also prompt one to get angry at the slightest pretext. Failure in life goals, injustice, unfair criticism and rejection may become the cause of extreme anger with devastating effects. Many people take anger as aggression but there is a fine line between the two. Anger is an emotion while aggression is an action. An angry person may or may not show aggression whilst an act of aggression can be performed with no anger at all.

Overall, except for a well-controlled, wellunderstood emotion, anger is a negative and harmful behaviour trait and should be avoided. It is never easy to do so but yet, but it is possible. A pause of a few minutes before reaction, counting ten, breathing deeply and holding it, and relaxing the body may help avert the outburst. Listening to music or talking with someone leads to distraction and cools the temper. Since it is part of behaviour, counselling and behaviour therapy may do wonders. Religions and their places of worship used to provide significant calm and coolness in many people’s lives but no more are the older effects visible. The politicisation of religions across the globe has converted these places into dens of hatred and anger.