Anger Management

Raise your hand if you ever experienced headaches and frustration before? The answer is obviously YES. We all experienced these symptoms through stressful situations and concerns. However, these symptoms are often caused by a buildup of anger and or emotional pain. That is why knowing positive ways to deal with anger is important. This is called anger management, a process when you recognize signs that you’re becoming angry and taking action to calm yourself down by using relaxation techniques. The most common and often used is taking deep breaths and counting down from three. Anger management doesn't try to keep you from feeling anger or encourage you to hold it in. Anger management is about dealing with stressful situations in a positive way instead of shouting, swearing, or being physically violent and threatening.

Ways to deal with anger and frustration

Check your mental state:

Before you start a conversation with someone, ask yourself if you are in a positive or negative mental state. You can think about your current emotions and thoughts of any recent events. It’s important to take small steps like checking yourself to help you prepare before speaking or acting a certain way. It’s hard to make smart choices when you’re in the grips of powerful negative emotion. That is why you should try to identify warning signs that you’re starting to get annoyed. Instead of focusing on negative thoughts try to take a step back and practice relaxation techniques to prevent your irritation from escaping.

Recognize and aviod your triggers:

We all have different triggers! That is why you should think about what triggers you? If you know what triggers you, you can take action to avoid it. You can’t eliminate angry feelings. But you can make changes to the way those events affect you, and how you respond. If you always argue with someone without realizing what's triggering your fight you’ll never improve your relationship or connections with that person. By talking about it you would be able to discuss and help each other understand the thing that is triggering you.

Pay attention and listen to others opinions:

Before a fight you should always think about your communication skills. When people are angry they often say things they don’t mean. An example would be people jumping to conclusions about something, and they can say the first (often unkind) thing that pops into their heads. We all know the pharse: stop, look and listen from school so try to stop and listen before reacting in a argument. Take time to think carefully about how you want to reply so you can get your point across. If you need to step away to cool down before continuing the conversation, make a promise to come back later to finish the discussion.

Breathing is the most important relaxation technique:

Focus on your breathing! Taking long deep breaths is the most common action for a reason. By breathing in more oxygen, you are helping your brain relax and make better or clear decisions, without having your anger clouding your judgment. You can also take some time to practice small exercises like turning your head or shaking your arms/hands. This helps stimulate your body and energize your body and your brain to be more productive and positive instead of being angry and frustrated.