Anger management therapy techniques: Here's how people with anger issues get real help!

What is anger?

It is a human emotion that stems from frustration, disappointment, and annoyance or when an individual feels someone has wronged them in some way. It is normal to experience anger as it helps us understand our values, stick to them and strengthen our relationship with ourselves.

However, uncontrolled anger is detrimental to physical and mental health.

True to the quote, “Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else: you’re the one who gets burned”, extreme and frequent rage can impact one’s health causing high blood pressure, anxiety, depression headaches, digestion problems, heart attack, stroke, insomnia and eczema [1].

A Bollywood movie highlights it better!

The severity of anger can be best understood with Kabir Singh, a blockbuster movie which shows the protagonist to be engaging in self-harm due to his red anger. He resorts to alcohol, consumes morphine and puts his hard-earned medical license at risk.

In addition to the self-harm, Kabir Singh’s excessive anger impacts his relationship with others. He threatens his lover with an ultimatum, violates her boundaries, disrespects his friends and displays aggression in unhealthy ways.

Well, Kabir Singh should’ve sought anger management therapy, which he didn’t!

How anger disrupts workplaces?

Have you ever felt like walking on eggshells around someone all the time at work? Not knowing when the person will yell or scream can be a nightmare.

Here’s how it impacts the work environment:

• Unpredictable outbursts can stress teammates. It can make them constantly stay in flight or fight mode, causing extreme anxiety

• It could discourage people to share their concerns, opinions or ideas, especially when working under a hostile manager

• It can impact the mental health of Highly Sensitive Individuals (HSP), who thrive in a peaceful and conflict-free environment

• People with anger issues could earn a negative reputation at work and witness social isolation

• Anger explosions could cause team members to feel they’re disrespected, which can lower their motivation and productivity in the long-run.

Causes:

Anger by itself is not a mental disorder, however, excessive anger could be a symptom of mental health issues such as depression, grief, bipolar disorders, anxiety, anti-social personality disorders, intermittent explosive disorders, schizophrenia and alcoholism.

Constant feelings of anger can also be due to other social factors such as oppression, marginalisation of certain communities, and sexual minorities.

It can also stem from bottling up past traumatic experiences such as sexual abuse or emotional abuse, and other negative emotions.

Other triggers include financial challenges, relationship problems, family issues and others can increase the stress level, causing a person to act out in anger.

Types of anger:

Anger doesn’t have to be external and targeted at others always. Anger towards self - inward anger can lead to destructive thinking patterns, causing various mental health conditions such as depression, self-harm, self-hatred, isolation, etc.

On the other hand, an individual can also repress their anger and channel it by being hard on themselves to become overachievers and workaholics. Repressed anger could also be displayed by refusing to do tasks, and being verbally rude or mean.

Behavioural cues of excessive anger include:

• Shouting or yelling

• Threatening others

• Physical attacks

• Displaying abusive behaviours such as cursing or throwing things

• Denying basic needs such as food for oneself

• Excessive negative self-talk

• Use of sarcasm to belittle others

• Silent treatment

• Irritability

• Impatience

Treatments for anger management

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

It is a highly effective form of anger management therapy. CBT uncovers the link between thoughts, feelings and beliefs. With a help of a psychotherapist, individuals with rage issues understand harmful negative thought patterns and behaviours that cause anger outbursts and replace them with constructive thoughts over some time.

Stress inoculation, a form of CBT technique, is also useful to treat anger issues. It exposes the individual to imaginary incidents that cause anger, helping them to notice their anger and suggesting coping techniques.

Cognitive restructuring is also a form of CBT where individuals learn to identify errors in their thinking patterns. For example, When the individual says phrases like, “no one ever listens to me”, or “no one respects me”, psychotherapists help the individual to look at their over-personalised thinking pattern which is the cause of their anger.

Manoshala offers anger management counselling via online sessions. We have 98 experts+ from institutions like Harvard, NYU, and Berkeley who offer services such as anger control therapy across India.

By understanding the customers’ needs, our experts suggest personalised therapy sessions to manage anger effectively.

Music Therapy

Music-based anger therapy has been proven to be efficient in controlling anger. According to the study, Influence of Music Therapy on Coping Skills and Anger Management in Forensic Psychiatric Patients, music intervention helped prisoners to control their violent behaviour.

Although music such as metal and punk may seem to be violent, interestingly, they help in dealing with anger, bringing a sense of calm. A 2015 study by the University of Queensland, Australia, unveiled that heavy metal, emo, hardcore, punk, screamo, and all extreme forms of music can help in processing anger. The study highlighted that extreme music helped people to match their anger with the music. People also felt a wide array of emotions, which generated feelings of inspiration, positivity and mood upliftment.

Manoshala offers anger management therapy through music and our experts will help in channelising anger in healthy ways through sound, lyrics, and other strategies that do not involve any formal music training.

Book a free 15-minutes pre-screening call with us to discuss your requirements.

Family Therapy

This form of anger management therapy is useful to resolve conflicts and improve communication in families. It is particularly useful when the angry behaviors of the family member(s) cause dysfunctional family dynamics at home.

A therapist will work with all family members to seek input, address the root cause for resentment or frustration and come up with solutions to function as a healthy family.

Manoshala offers anger management counselling online to individuals and families to help individuals constructively manage anger.

Final Notes

While a healthy dose of anger is productive, like anything, excessive rage hurts the health of the individual and those around them. Anger of any kind, outward, inward or repressed can have serious health impacts on us. If you or your loved ones display symptoms of destructive anger, it is important to seek professional help.

Written by Padmapriyadarshini