Anger Management

Anger Management

The essay below suggests that while anger and frustration comprise part of life, they may be healthy ways in dealing and coping with everyday challenges. A famous social psychology professor once blatantly said in his introductory interpersonal relations lecture “anger makes you stupid”. Indeed, decisions made under the emotional influence of anger are often rash, reckless and impulsive, something one is likely to regret later on.

Further, Elizabeth Cornwell, a doctor, and Matthew Cornwell, a neurosurgeon, wrote a book on the subject of stress, anger, and other negative emotions’ impact on well-being. Thus, one of the key areas they discuss, is transfer of feelings onto material belongings. For instance, if a patient was particularly frustrated with a task, they could suggest throwing a branch or kicking dirt. Similarly, a person may transfer their feelings onto material possessions and get rid of them in a subconscious attempt to remedy the situation. Whether that works or not is a different story.

Sometimes you just can't manage your anger. Illustration by Elena

Alternatively, another excerpt discussed refers to cognitive dissonance, a well-known theory in cognitive psychology. Cognitive dissonance stems from a dissimilarity of one’s beliefs and convictions with one’s actions and behaviour. According to psychologists, the mental construct causes individuals to experience stress. Also, stress management skills include meditation and other relaxation techniques. As per this theory, people then rationalize their behaviours to match their personal views.

Similarly, social support helps with almost everything, including common colds. Interestingly, a psychological study has shown that people who had more social connections were less likely to a catch a cold, develop the symptoms and got well quicker, than their more isolated counterparts. However, psychologists often warn that quality of interpersonal relationships is more often than not much more important than quantity of said relations per se. Therefore, the paper above outlines some of the theoretical suggestions concerning stress alleviation, anger, frustration, coping skills and psychology.