Everyone expresses anger at some point or other. Venting frustration at everyday annoyances and unleashing pent-up anger and rage however, are entirely different anger management issues. Knowing how to spot signs that your feelings and emotions are beginning to get out of control will help stabilise moods and enable you understand why anger dominates the situation, as well as how to curb emotional outbursts.
Helpful Signs
Monitoring behaviour, mood, thoughts and feelings, in general, will help you gain a better understanding of the little, and big, things that may wind you up, stress you out or encourage your temper to boil. By accepting your triggers you will be able to watch for signs that your mood is about to swing into a negative zone that may encourage anger or rage. Spotting the signs will not only help you clarify your basic anger triggers, but will also enable you to set some anger management steps in place.
The way in which you act out anger will also determine the level of anger management and control required to create a more positive frame of mind and behaviour pattern.
Anger Intensity
The frequency of emotional outburst, along with the intensity of anger and/or rage, will identify the best ways of controlling and maintaining behaviour through anger management counselling, self-help exercises or a supportive programme. History of poor communication skills may mean that an individual has built up anger over the course of a long period of time, and the intensity therefore may be greater than the amount of justifiable anger and inappropriate behaviour.
Warning Signs
Accepting that you may need help, to control anger, is the important first step in raise awareness of an emotional problem or issue. Understanding that anger is actually fear, frustration, anxiety and/or depression, that is disguised as expressive emotion, means that anger can be accepted as a feeling that requires a coping mechanism and a healthier approach.
Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.
Teach By Example
Teaching children ways to control anger and to stop defiance and cursing is more effectively done by setting an example of appropriate behaviour yourself. Most parents will feel the demands of parenting on an emotional level, and this can at times result in the build-up of frustration, irritation and aggression. By transforming the way in which an individual deals with stressful situations anger can be managed in a more constructive manner.
Improving communication, with adults and children alike, also creates a more harmonious environment where anger, feelings and emotion can be explored in a more positive way.
Assessing Medication Needs
Extreme anger and rage, that is frequent, unpredictable and intense, may require more support than an anger management programme or counsellor can provide. Whilst there are natural homeopathic remedies readily available some individuals may prefer to rely on the professional assessment of their GP, with regards to medication help to aid the effects of extreme anger issues.
Anger that is explosive and occurs without provocation may need to be assessed by a psychiatrist who will determine the correct course of action and medication.
Things that are homeopathic are not remedies. You lose credibility when you imply that nonsense has medical value.
I would like some advice if possible. For years I have put up with my husbands rage of horrible threatening abusive outbursts and have just put up with it to try and keep my children's life stable. Unfortunately now my children are teenagers it has kind of spread to them as well , leading this week to a confrontation between my 16 year old son and resulting in his father taking a swing at him and telling him he is pathetic and he will loose everything now. I tried to intervene but had a tirade of threatening abuse at me so chose to walk out with my son and we are currently at my mums. I don't know what to do as he is all nice and wanting us to go to counselling and my son says he hates him and will not return to the house . I have an 18 yr old son as well and not sure what to do who to speak too as I am now torn and feel I am letting my 18yr old son down too by not trying to fix the problem . Not ideal for us to be staying at my mums for long term. please can you give any advice on who I can contact. Is this a case of domestic abuse?
Ask Anger Management Expert a question
Ask our editorial team a question and we will reply with our advice. Tell us as much about your situation as you can: the more detail you give, the more useful our answer can be.
You do not need to use your real name. Please do not include your full address, phone number, email address, or the names of other people. We may edit or remove identifying details for privacy and legal reasons.
Comments are moderated before publication.