Part of being human is to feel anger at times, it is a normal, healthy emotion. It isn’t necessarily a ‘bad’ emotion and can be very useful. Feeling angry about something can help us motivate us to create change or to achieve our goals, it can help us to stay safe and enables us to defend ourselves if we experience danger. Most people will experience bursts of anger which are manageable and don’t really impact their lives.
Anger becomes a problem when it gets out of control and could harm you or can harm another. We can express our anger in unhelpful and different ways such as:
- Inward aggression, telling yourself that you hate yourself, withdrawing from the world, not providing yourself your basic needs (like food)
- Outward aggression, such as shouting slamming doors being physically or verbally abusive towards others.
- Passive aggression such as ignoring people, refusing to do tasks, being sulky or even sarcastic but not saying anything directly aggressive or angry.
Learning healthy ways to recognise your anger and importantly how to deal with anger is vital for our mental and physical health.
Our therapists are experienced and accredited counsellors and psychotherapists and can help and support you.
Carol Duffy, Psychotherapist
Image (c) Carol Duffy 2019