Definitions of Anger

Have you ever had the experience of trying to untwist the twisted, such as your ear bud cords before you work out in the morning, a fishing line, or a necklace before wearing it out on the town?  

When things are all twisted and lumped together they don’t serve the purpose they have the potential to serve.  And it can be oh so frustrating.  In my mental health therapy practice I am often helping clients sort through emotions in an attempt to make sense of them and manage them more effectively and anger seems to be the most generally confusing emotion.  

Anger is an emotion that can be felt as a mild irritation and slight frustration to an intense fury and rage.

Anger is in all of us and it is a natural response to those situations when we feel threatened, we believe harm will come our way or when we believe we have been harmed and unnecessarily wronged.  We may also become angry when we feel another person, like a child or someone close to us, is being threatened or harmed.  In addition, anger may result from frustration when our needs, desires and goals are not being met.  When we become angry, we may lose our patience and act impulsively, aggressively or violently.

People often confuse anger with aggression.  Aggression is the behavior that is intended to cause harm to another person or damage property.  The behavior can include verbal abuse, threats, or violent acts.  Anger, on the other hand, is an emotion and does not necessarily lead to aggression, even if there is the inward feeling of tension.  Therefore a person can become angry without acting aggressively, even though they might feel they are pushed to the edge of doing something that is out of their character. 

Another term related to anger and aggression is hostility. Hostility refers to a complex set of attitudes and judgments that motivate aggressive behaviors.  Whereas anger is an emotion and aggression is a behavior, hostility is an attitude that involves disliking others and evaluating them negatively.  Often times, I hear clients feel as is they have to judge others almost as a defense from the feeling they are being judged by others.  

As part of therapy, I help clients learn strategies and techniques to manage the emotion of anger, develop alternative behaviors to their aggressive ways and change hostile attitudes and prevent aggressive acts, such as verbal abuse and violence.  I also try to help clients understand why they have confusing and intrusive thoughts about themselves and others.  I help clients recognize how their feelings of low self-worth might lead them to having negative thoughts about themselves and others.  Therapy can help people recognize, manage and change.

Feel free to call me or send me a message if you have any questions for me or about the services I provide.  402.885.7932.

Greg