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Anger Management: Simple Steps to Take Back Control

Anger is a natural human emotion. We all feel a degree of anger when we face situations that are frustrating, disappointing or feel unfair or unjust. We might also feel anger alongside shame, fear or sadness.

The problem with anger is that it can lead us to demonstrate outward hostility or cause tension in our relationships. How we deal with anger is therefore very important. Learning to manage this emotion is crucial, but it is not easy.

In this blog, we look at what anger is and how it can affect us before providing some simple anger management exercises to try at home. We recommend getting effective anger management treatment, too.

Understanding What Anger Is

Learning what anger is and what causes it can help you find effective anger management strategies.

What Anger Does to Our Body

Anger is an intense feeling. It’s an acute emotional response and people feel a physical reaction. Anger activates the sympathetic nervous system, leading to a range of physiological reactions. You may notice:

• Your heart racing
• Faster breathing
• A hormonal rush
• A rush of blood to the muscles
• Intense focus on the situation that triggered anger

How We Experience Anger Differently

Everyone has a different response to anger. How intensely we feel anger is often influenced by our general health and happiness, previous life experiences, and other situations we are currently experiencing. Some people get angry more:

• Easily
• Quickly
• Intensely

Why It's Important to Learn How to Control Anger Issues

When anger is extreme, we might act in a way that causes others distress or pain, impacts our relationships at home, or harms our own health or happiness. It may even lead to relationship breakdowns, problems in our career, or even trouble with the law.

If you recognize that your anger is causing problems, then seeking professional help with anger management or learning anger management exercises will help calm and slow down the intensity of the feelings you experience.

The Best Treatment for Anger Management

Anger and a lack of control can cause enormous upset to you and your loved ones. That’s why we recommend seeking professional help with anger management.

Licensed health practitioners in psychiatry, psychotherapy and family therapy can provide you with better insights into your anger issues. They can give bespoke advice for how to control anger issues that you can put into practice straight away. They will work with you until you feel you have anger under control.

Thanks to digital platforms like Estenarh, counseling like this is more accessible than ever before. You can download the Estenarh online therapy app to receive professional and confidential mental health advice in your own home. By harnessing technology, digital platforms are able to offer a helping hand to anyone, anywhere, and anytime in complete privacy.

7 Practical Tips for Controlling Anger

It is inevitable that you will occasionally find yourself in situations that trigger anger. These simple steps can help if you begin to feel a surge of emotion. Remember that we all feel anger from time to time. The goal is to keep it as a fleeting feeling, not one that overwhelms.

Here are seven simple anger management exercises and strategies that you can use to better cope with difficult moments.

1. Recognize the Triggers

Knowing the pattern of your typical anger can help you prevent it from erupting. Are there certain situations that make you feel tense? Rush hour traffic, stressful work deadlines, or a messy space in your home, for example, can make you irritable and more prone to losing control of your temper.

You may be able to avoid these situations, replan your work schedule or tackle unavoidable problems when you are feeling most calm. Rebalancing your general stress levels could also lessen the chances of feeling overwhelmed and angry.

2. Learn the Warning Signs

Learn the physical warning signs of anger beginning to bubble up. You may feel muscles tense, breathing quicken, heartbeat begin to race, or feel restless. If you can identify them early enough, it may be possible to take yourself out of a situation until you feel calmer.

Delaying your response to stressful circumstances can help you think more clearly, with more empathy for others, and communicate your feelings better.

3. Try Calming Progressive Muscle Relaxation

This is a technique that helps you release the physical tension you feel when angry to help you feel calmer overall. Start at your toes and tense all the muscles in your feet before releasing and relaxing them as much as possible. Then work upwards to your head and shoulders.

4. Go for a Walk or Do Some Exercise

This is another tip for how to control anger immediately. You can burn off some of the extra energy you feel when angry by moving your body. Just a brisk walk is often enough to release tension and feel calmer. A simple exercise like this will also give you the time to think through how you would like to react.

5. Focus on your Breath

Shallow breathing is a physical symptom of anger. Taking control of your breathing in stressful situations can help you take control of your thoughts and reactions, too. Try counting slow breaths in and out. Belly breathing is also helpful. Feeling your breath come in and out of your belly rather than your chest will slow it down.

6. Avoid the Language of Blame and Unfairness in Heated Moments

The language you use in a stressful situation can either help inflame or diffuse it. Certain words and phrases can make you and others feel worse. Words to try to avoid include:

• Never
• Always
• Must and mustn’t
• Unfair

For example, avoid statements like, “Things like this always happen to me” or “You never listen to me”. Claims like this are almost always untrue and will only serve to make the situation more stressful for all involved.

7. Explore Cognitive Reappraisal

Cognitive reappraisal is the effort of shifting away from negative thoughts to a more positive reinterpretation of events. Next time someone’s behavior or decision making triggers anger, try to focus on positive explanations.

For example, a driver who speeds past you may be rushing somebody to hospital. A perceived slight from a friend could be a misunderstanding. Somebody who breaks a promise may be acting for the greater good of everybody. Reappraising situations in this way can help you react more calmly.

Estenarh: Your Partner in Improving Your Anger Management

These tips may help you control your anger in a stressful moment, but over the long term, you may benefit from professional advice. Estenarh is a digital platform licensed by the Saudi Ministry of Health.

The experts at Estenarh can help you identify the root causes of your anger and find effective personalized strategies for dealing with them. Our goal is to empower you to build a fulfilling and peaceful life, where anger is only a brief feeling that does not overwhelm you.

You can explore our online mental health treatments or get in touch with our experts to find out more.