ANGER MANAGEMENT
 

Dear Students;

Anger is one of the emotions most familiar to most of you. You may have difficulties expressing or experiencing anger, although it is often felt. In this article, we aim to give you tips that can help you better recognize, understand, and control your anger.

In order for the emotion of anger to be lived and managed in a healthy way, that is, to be controlled, first of all, it is necessary to accept this emotion, understand its causes and form, and learn and internalize the ways of expressing it correctly.

Anger: when the plans, wants, and needs of the individual are hindered; It is defined as one of the basic emotions experienced when one perceives injustice as a threat to oneself. Anger is an emotional response to frustration. There are two types of frustration: barriers caused by environmental factors and barriers caused by one's own inability to achieve success. An excessive level of anger that occurs in situations of frustration can often be a sign of a lack of an individual's basic sense of self-confidence.

Anger: It could be a message that we have been hurt, that our rights have been violated, that our needs are not being met properly, or that things are just not going well. In addition, anger has functions such as the desire for power and control, avoiding responsibility, having poor communication skills, using it as a defense tool against other emotions, and making it a habit.

Anger has five simultaneous dimensions that are intertwined with each other:

1) Cognition: The thoughts you have when anger arises

2) Emotion: Psychological stimulation that elicits anger.

3) Communication: How you communicate your anger to others

4) Sensation: How you see the environment in anger and your experience at that moment

5) Behavior: How you act in anger

Do you have any signs of being angry?

The physiological, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral symptoms of anger are explained below.

Physiological symptoms accompanying anger include increased muscle tension, frowning of the eyebrows, grinding of teeth, clenching of fists, flushing of the face, trembling feeling, especially in hands and feet, numbness, difficulty breathing, feeling of congestion, twitching in various parts of the body, sweating, loss of control, feeling of warmth, snoring, lips reactions such as biting, throbbing of the brain, headache, and acceleration of movements.

The cognitive and emotional manifestations of anger reveal the way you perceive and interpret anger. After perceiving anger, your reaction to anger, your perception and interpretation of anger, your rational or irrational thoughts about anger, and your past experiences can be said to be cognitive and emotional symptoms.

The behavioral dimension of anger defines the way the anger is expressed and the reactions exhibited in coping with it. While some individuals express their anger by suppressing, intruding, or controlling others, others show it outwardly.

Directly observable expressions of anger; verbal and nonverbal expressions that clearly indicate that the person wants to hurt others or harm the environment, such as slapping, kicking, speaking loudly, swearing, being overly critical, seeking fault, being argumentative and aggressive, blaming, mocking, and throwing tantrums, are physical abuse. Anger can also be expressed as an outward expression or projection. Aggressive behaviors such as shouting, slamming doors, throwing things, saying bad words, fighting, and teasing are some of the most common and easiest ways to express anger.

The forms of indirect expression of anger are such as staying away from others, refusing to cooperate, silence, forgetfulness, crying, unhappiness, resentment, and suppression.

What happens to the feeling of unexpressed anger?

Suppressing anger, or, in other words, not expressing it, can cause individuals to have difficulties in their relationships and to harbor resentment, anger, resentment, and grudges. Not expressing anger does not make it go away. Anger is an emotion that rises as it is suppressed. Anger that is suppressed, not expressed, but persists internally may appear as hostility and cause anger to be expressed unexpectedly in an uncontrolled and exaggerated manner. In addition, the constant accumulation and internalization of anger can cause psychosomatic disorders such as migraine, indigestion, gastritis, ulcers, chronic heart diseases, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, negative emotions such as malaise, not being able to enjoy anything, and psychological disorders such as depression.

Anger is a sign, and an important one. Anger can be a message that an individual has been hurt, that their rights have been violated, that their needs or wants are not being met properly, or that things are simply not going well.

Anger may indicate neglecting an important emotional issue in one's life or sacrificing too much of themselves, their beliefs, values, desires, or ambitions in relationships.

Anger can be a sign that you are doing or giving much more than you are capable of. Or anger may be a warning that others are doing too much for you at the expense of your own development or competence.

Controlling anger is not about not getting angry or showing anger. It means to show anger in a correct and healthy way. Otherwise, suppressing negative emotions, engaging in false indulgence, or avoiding confrontation causes the person to either accumulate their emotions and explode or be crushed.

Finally, how can we achieve anger control?

On the basis of anger control, It is about accepting anger, finding the source of anger, understanding why you are angry, and accepting to deal with anger realistically. On this basis, anger control can be achieved in five stages:

Stage 2: You should recognize the situations that cause anger, and you should know in which situations you experience anger outbursts. When you develop awareness, the anger response can be anticipated and stopped.

Stage 2: In the escalation of anger, you can focus on the thoughts running through your mind and your physical symptoms. You can try alternative thought changes, breathing exercises, and staying in the moment techniques.

Stage 2: You should try to avoid doing harm. In order to avoid the destructive effects of verbal or physical expressions, you can try suggestions (self-talk, self-suggestion), leaving the environment, and time-out techniques.

Stage 2: You should go the way of calming down as soon as possible. The ways in which everyone can calm down are unique. You can try to explore these; for example, relaxation exercises can work.

Stage 2: In order to repair the damage you have done, Instead of being offended or blaming others, you should take responsibility for the outburst of anger, turn to repairing your behavior, and engage in constructive activities. You should try to realize the consequences of your destructive behaviors and aim to develop alternative behaviors so that their negative effects do not continue in the long term.

You cannot change or destroy the person, event, or situation you are angry with, or sometimes you cannot get away from them. Because The thing to do in the face of angry situations, events, or people is to move the anger expression away from destructive effects and bring it to a stage where your internal and external reactions are controlled.

If you still find it difficult to control your anger despite all your efforts and wishes, you can get support from our unit.

For Your Questions and Psychological support, Contact: odek@yildiz.edu.tr.

We wish you healthy days.

28-06-2021

DEAN OF STUDENT