6 Powerful Tools against Too Much Anger

Amy Taylor June 07, 2013

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Contrary to popular belief, anger is a healthy emotion. Feeling angry is normal and is vital to our survival. However, it becomes a problem when we fail to take control of it. Unmanaged anger may pose potential health risks, such as heart disease, heart attack, depression, anxiety disorder, digestive problem, and so on.

If you have problems managing feelings of anger, here are some tools that have been proven to help:

Proper Breathing

There are breathing techniques that provide immediate relief for uncontrolled anger. When we are angry, we tend to breathe in more than we breathe out. But this only makes your muscles more tensed and disrupts the blood flow in your body. The key is to breathe out for longer than you breathe in, and relax as you breathe out. Practise proper breathing for several times until you become calmer. It won’t take long anyway.

Exercise

When you are stressed, you are more vulnerable to negative emotions such as irritability, anxiety, sadness and anger. Making exercise a part of your daily lifestyle is one great way to properly control these emotions. If you’re in the middle of an infuriating situation, excuse yourself and take a walk or a jog outside. You’ll be surprised of its calming effect!

Creativity

Before feelings of anger take control of you, let your imagination and creativity calm you down. Dancing, painting, cooking, and writing can help release tension and reduce feelings of anger.

Meditation

One of the best tools against uncontrolled anger and bad temper is meditation. There’s mounting evidence to the role of meditation in enhancing brain areas that promote positive emotions. Meditating won’t just keep you calm, it may also help you cultivate positive behaviours and habits needed for a healthy well-being.

Optimism

If you keep looking at the glass as ‘half empty’, you are more likely to experience anger every now and then. Try to let go of negative thinking. It’s not going to be easy especially if you’ve always been the ‘pessimist’ type. But remember that our brain is very flexible. It can easily adapt and learn with proper training. Talk to a therapist to learn how to develop positive thinking and shun negative thinking.

Self-Love

You can’t give what you don’t have, so they say. If you are full of love and compassion, you are likely to show positive emotions in your actions and in your words. Likewise, if you’re full of hatred or scepticism, you are more likely to show negative behaviour, such as being short-tempered. Cultivating positive behaviour begins with self-love. Look after yourself. Give yourself time to relax, chill and re-energise. Make sure you’re getting enough sleep and eating the right food. Also, avoid things that destroy your health such as cigarettes, illegal drugs and too much alcohol.

Therapy

If you think you need help dealing with issues on anger management, see a professional therapist. There are plenty of treatments available, including counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy. But make sure you’re dealing with a credible practitioner who is registered with a professional organisation, such as the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy.

What other anger management tools can you add to this list? Feel free to post a comment below.