What is Anger? Types, Causes, Effects

Anger is such natural, unwanted, and irrational emotion that we all get to experience from time to time. Today, we’ll discuss what is anger, its traits, types, effects, causes, and treatment in detail. 

What is Anger? 

Anger or rage is the primary intense emotion that we all feel when someone does something bad or makes us feel bad. It results in the form of irritation, frustration, and stress. Therefore, when you’re going through a difficult and stressful situation, then it’s perfectly okay to be angry. 

Things become problematic when anger interferes in your personal life, impact daily operations, and your relationships with others. There are different levels of angry feelings, it ranges from annoyance and irritation to rage and fury. Sometimes, it’s significant to be careful about your emotions and how you behave in certain situations. 

Mild rage and irritation would happen when we don’t get our basic needs like sleep, food, sex, shelter, etc. It becomes frustrating due to inappropriate responses, bad reactions, threats, or criticism. Sometimes, actions, opinions, beliefs, and views of others make us feel irritated. 

Traits of Anger 

When you get angry, then certain physiological and biological changes occur in your body. Some of the changes that your body goes through are as follows; 

• High muscle tension 
• Increasing body temperature  
• Spiking hormones like noradrenaline and adrenaline 
• High blood pressure 
• High energy level 

The expressions of angry emotions are different in different people. When a person is furious, then you’ll observe the following characteristics; 

• Excessive pacing 
• Sweating 
• Rapid heartbeat 
• Physical trembling 
• Jaws clenched 
• Scowling and frowning 
• Fist clenching 
• Raised voices 

Types of Anger 

The main three types of anger are as follows; 

Passive Aggressive Anger 

Passive-aggressive anger is when a person suppresses his/her anger instead of dealing with it; it results in the expression of undermining and unhealthy ways. 

Assertive Anger

Assertive anger is a healthy expression of angry emotions, and it means dealing with it in a controlled manner in order to resolve the situation by using a calm tone and careful words. In other words, we can say it’s a non-threatening expression of anger. 

Openly Aggressive Anger 

Openly aggressive anger is an expression of anger both in the form of verbal and physical aggression like hitting things and screaming/shouting. The goal of aggressive anger is to physically and emotionally hurt the person in rage. 

However, you can also express the anger both verbally and nonverbally, and they’re as follows; 

Verbal 

People express their angry emotions verbally, and it results in the form of shouting, raising voices, and screaming. They would pass hurting, disrespectful, and insulting remarks towards the person they’re angry at. 

Nonverbal 

Nonverbal expression of angry emotions involves physical gestures like clenching fists and jaws, scowl and frowning. Sometimes, you lose control over your emotions and lash out at the other persona and causing physical damage to the objects and things, and hurting yourself. 

There is no particular way that people express their angry emotions. Instead, they use various types in combination to express their anger. 

Side Effects of Anger 

As said earlier that the angry feelings are natural and normal and they’re a sign of healthy emotions. However, excessive angry feelings and emotions could jeopardize your mental, physical, and psychological health. It’s because when you get angry, then your body undergoes various biological and physiological changes. 

It increases your blood pressure and heartbeat, and your body’s hormones release noradrenaline and adrenaline. When your body goes through certain physical repetitively, then it makes you angry and results in the form of the following complications and medical conditions; 

• Diabetes 
• Bowel disease 
• Gastric ulcer
• Substance abuse 
• Insomnia
• Anxiety 
• Depression 
• Higher blood pressure 

Recognizing Anger 

As discussed earlier that various people express their angry emotions and feelings differently. For instance, some people shout and scream to express their anger, and other people express their rage by physically hitting things and assaulting people. 

As we know that angry emotions are normal and natural human response. Therefore, you should express your raging feelings in such a way that it doesn’t alienate people around you. When you share your mental emotions in healthier ways, then it amplifies your mental health and wellness. 

Causes of Anger 

There are many internal and external influences and factors that could cause angry emotions. A sight of any particular individual and a certain situation could make you angry. For instance, you’re driving and someone before you crosses the line wrongly, and it would make you furious. When someone you love confronts you emotionally, puts you in pain, threatens, and hurts your feelings, then it angers you. 

Sometimes people get angry in order to avoid and replace other emotions and feelings like loss, loneliness, fear, emotional pain, and etc. We can say that angry emotions are your secondary feelings. Sometimes, circumstances like frustrating situations, real or perceived attacks, fearful situations, or physical pain could cause rage. 

Such triggering points that cause angry emotions and feelings could rational or irrational. Some of those triggering points are; 

• Having injured in the accident and makes you physically disable like unable to walk or losing sight 
• Physical or mental fatigue 
• Fail to perform a certain task or job
• The breakup of the relationship 
• Losing a job and becoming unemployed 
• Lost of a very close loved one 

Sometimes, getting angry is a symptom and sign of some type of medical condition bipolar disorder, ADHD, substance abuse, or depression. 

Treatment of Anger

The goal of anger management or treatment is to deal with such angry emotions in a healthy manner. 

Therapy 

The goal of the therapy is to identify and recognize the triggering irritating points and then finding a way to avoid them. The difficult point is to recognize such triggering elements because some people get angry in an instance without knowing why. If you have difficulty managing anger, then you should consult a therapist. 

Conclusion: What is Anger? Types, Causes, Effects 

After an in-depth study of what is anger, its types, causes, traits, effect, and treatment, we’ve realized that angry emotions could jeopardize your personal and professional life. If you’re having issues managing angry emotions, then you should identify the triggering points and try to ignore them. If things aren’t under control, then you should consult a therapist.