At least 9% of American adults have anger management issues. And alarmingly, 1.5% of them use guns when they get angry.
Anger is a strong emotion, and everyone gets angry at some point. When unchecked, anger can cause aggressive reactions, isolation, loneliness, depression, and other unexpected actions.
While there’s is nothing wrong with getting angry, it’s crucial to have a few skills to avoid creating a mess when angry.
Here’s are some anger coping skills. These tips cannot prevent you from getting into a bad mood, but they can help you react in a better way when you are mad.
Understand the red flags
Some people only realise they were angry after causing a lot of trouble.
There are many stages of anger. The first few stages are easy to manage, while the last ones can cause irreversible effects. The first step of dealing with anger, therefore, is to understand its red signs.
These signs can include anxiety, teeth grinding, sweating, pacing, pounding heart, or shaking. The symptoms vary from one person to another.
Learn to control yourself when you experience them to avoid danger. Also, don’t decide on anything unless you calm down first.
Work out
Physical exercise is an excellent solution to anger. The techniques help you calm down within a short period and handle the issues more positively.
Note that exercises only work best for some cases. For instance, it can relieve you if you are depressed, under pressure, or experiencing mood swings.
Here are some of the workouts to try when you are angry:
- Try to move up and down the stairs
- Weight lifting
- One leg balance
- Stretching
- Jogging and running
- Football games
Caution: do not try a highly engaging sporting activity. The exercise is meant to relieve you and not to hurt you. This means that you should not do any action if you are sick or weak. Instead, you can try other anger management techniques to get better.
Write it down
What makes you angry? People get irritated by many things, and you should know yours.
Could it be the public transport you use? Lies? Write down all the things which annoy you in a notebook.
It will be easier for you to manage your anger when you already know what triggers it. You don’t have to write anytime you get hurt. Sometimes, you can write everything that triggers your anger during free time.
You can also write the immediate solutions that you will be taking whenever that thing happens to you. As you write or reference your notes, you will feel at ease, and your mind will relax to help you maturely handle the issue.
Talk to a professional
You can seek advice if you have tried all other anger management techniques, and you don’t seem to get better. When you speak, you allow the extreme weight to get off your shoulders. You also get fresh ideas on controlling your anger.
So, who should you take to? The first people to turn to should be your trusted family members and friends. You can also join online platforms for people with similar issues to yours for help.
Most importantly, you should reach out to a reputable counsellor. Anger management experts can analyze your situation and recommend excellent anger management skills to apply.
However, you should confirm the experience and reputation of the therapist first before you contact them.
Stop talking and relax
Withdraw from any conversation which makes you angrier. If you continue arguing, you will probably end up getting physical.
Both assault and battery cases have severe legal implications. You may find good info here on both assault and robbery and how you can avoid them.
Simple relaxations tactics to manage your anger include:
- Deep breathing. Breath from your diaphragm several times to get out anger
- Imagery. You can try imagining some things, no matter how funny they might look
- Yoga. Yoga can help relax your muscles and avoid anger
One good thing about these relaxation tactics is that you don’t need to do them only when you are angry. You can add them to your daily routine. In that way, it becomes easier for you to apply them when you are mad.
Solve the problem
Sometimes, problem-solving is the only practical solution to anger. An unsolved problem can only add more pain to you, and you may end up harming yourself and other people as well.
You cannot solve the problem alone. This means that you must involve the other parties you have been in conflict with or who you think is responsible for your woes.
Sit down and talk like mature people. Watch your tone during the problem-solving period. You can involve a third party if you think that the meeting might cause more problems.
So don’t always magnify all small irritations that come your way. Be ready to accept when you are wrong, and embrace the problem-solving technique. You will be surprised how effective it can be in restoring your happiness.
Change the environment
Is your immediate environment the leading cause of your irritation and fury? If so, you need to change the setting. Relaxation and the other techniques will not be useful if you will always be subjected to the same irritants.
You deserve a break. Pack your belongings and move out from that toxic surroundings. You can go on a trip, or any other place to have a peaceful time.
You can always come back when you feel relaxed or when the toxic people in your home or work have changed. You can even have a permanent change in the environment. For instance, you can resign from that job, move to another estate permanently, and so on.
The idea here is to protect your peace of mind and the people around you. So, don’t fear taking the favourable decision, which keeps anger at bay.
Know the right anger coping skills
Anger is an inevitable emotion, but you should not let it control you. Instead, you should control it with the above anger coping skills, and others too. You should also not fear asking for help when you can’t calm down, or things get out of hand.
Dennis Relojo-Howell is the managing director of Psychreg.
