Understanding The Causes And Effects Of Anger And Depression

The Importance of Expressing Anger in a Constructive Manner

Describe about Understanding the Causes and Effects of Anger and Depression?

1. Confusion between angry feelings and aggressive behaviour leads creation of a situation wherein individuals are enable to express a very useful, universal, healthy and natural emotion called anger. Anger is a very natural human emotion which is displayed in response to fear, threat, injustice, attack or any other form of disappointment (Chapman, 2008). Anger when suppressed can become a source of many physical and psychological disorders such as depression and obesity. Depression is a state where anger is turned inwards and obesity is caused due to comfort eating which is result for stuffing oneself with anger. An individual’s inability to assert himself or deal with his anger in a constructive manner result in an inadequate and inappropriate behaviour.

2. Anger is a natural human emotion just like happiness, sadness, fear, excitements, joy etc (Tavris, 1989). As individuals do not resist themselves from express other emotions they should also not resist expressing anger. Anger when expressed in a constructive manner helps solving the conflicts that result from disappointments.  There are times when people say that have the ability to control their anger however in really controlling one’s anger and expressing true feeling is a very destructive behaviour. Suppressed anger is seen as a very unhealthy condition which leads to a number of physical as well as psychological diseases (Tavris, 1989). As one tries to suppress their anger they may either present them in a very weak manner or display aggressive behaviour both of which increases the already existing feeling of anger. In such cases people end up either losing their self confidence or spoiling their relationship with others. Most of the health diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attacks etc result from stress that is created when people try suppressing their anger.

3. Depression is seen as ‘anger turned inwards’. Every individual feels sad sometimes in their life however this sadness is short-life and can last for a few hours or days. Depression is defined as a state wherein the feeling of sadness or loss of interest persists for very long time and interfere with daily life activities (Moragne, 2011). Depression affects the way individuals thinks, behaves and feels about themselves and their surroundings. Depression leads to a number of physical and mental problems wherein individuals feel problem performing their day to day roles and responsibilities and even get feeling of ending their life as they feel it’s not worth living. A number of cases have been reported wherein patients suffering from depression have tried or committed suicides. People suffering from depression not only create problems for themselves but also for their family members and others who are connected to them.

4. Some individuals lack assertiveness and are not able to deal with their true feelings in a constructive manner. People who are non-assertive are unable to handle their feelings in a constructive manner and thus represent themselves in a very weak form in front of others. As they are unable to stand up for themselves in a positive manner they feel bad when people treat them unfairly and thus feel anxious, hurt and self-contemptuous. This adds to the feeling of already existing anger. In such cases the other persons involved get a feeling of content because of the deficient actions and reactions of the first person. On the hand people who are too assertive display a very aggressive behaviour and present themselves in a too strong manner when they fail to deal with their anger in a constructive manner (Harbin, 2000). In such cases people tend to satisfy their anger by hurting themselves or others either mentally or physically.

5. Behaviour that threatens or causes to physical and emotional harm to others is referred to as aggressive behaviour (Huesmann, 1994). There are cases when individuals owing to some of their life experiences feel angry and hurt and because of that they make it their goal to hurt others. These acts help in either feeling content or simply defending themselves. This aggressive behaviour helps individuals in satisfying their anger temporarily. Aggressive behaviour most of the time results in disrupted communication with friends and also serves as a source of forth counter-aggression from others which tend to make individuals even more aggressive. It is commonly seen that people avoid aggressive individuals as they through their wired behaviour and inappropriate communication makes situations worst. Thus, aggressive behaviour result in spoiled public image and relationships.

6. A proper assertive behaviour enables individuals in constructively managing their anger. It helps them in dealing with their feelings in an appropriate manner and in a confronting style when needed. A proper assertive behaviour may not support individuals in achieve their desired goals however it helps them in feeling good about themselves. It helps them feeling satisfied with their actions and decisions. Such individuals may feel disappointed when things do not work as planned by them however they do not feel irrationally hostile and lose control over their emotions. A proper assertive behaviour help people strengthen their relationships and enhance their self confidence as they have the potential to control their anger in a constructive manner.

7. Anger has always been considered as a misunderstood emotion (Randall, 2010). Since childhood we are informed by different individuals in different situations that anger is bad, unacceptable and should not be expressed specially in front of public. Anger is associated with a number of myths like, anger is destructive, sinful and undesirable emotion, aggressive behaviour is always shown by an aggressive individual and frustration is always a source of anger (Harbin, 2000). Apart from such myths there are theories that define anger in a very wrong manner. Individuals are expected to find ways of getting rid of their anger or control it be indulging in physical activities like exercises, sports, competitions etc. They are asked to express their angry feeling in private. When conflict involves strong angry feelings individuals feel a fear of expressing their angry into the open which they consider as bad and unacceptable. Instead of finding ways to suppress or control ones anger, people must look for ways to express it in a constructive manner.

8. Childhood is characterised by three traits namely; doing things in a hurry wherein children are always in a rush and want to complete all work within short interval of time as their focus span is limited; assuming one’s own omnipotence wherein children feel they are superior to all and have quality that are better than other individuals and inability to accept frustrations wherein children are unable to accept disappointments and they want everything to work according to them (Posnock, 2008). An individual who exhibit these childhood traits in his adult hood is perceived as immature being and these three traits of immaturity affect their behavioural pattern as an adult.

9. Immaturity is a state wherein individuals exhibit childhood traits even in their adult hood (Hoffman, 2009). As a child they want to accomplish all their goals and complete their tasks in a hurry. They start performing all their activities in a hurry. They will talk fast, eat fast, think fast and also live fast. Most of their time is spent in keeping a check over their fastened activities. As a result they undergo stress which is slowly converted into anger or aggression. These individuals face tremendous inner pressure to achieve all their goals as speedily as possible. They aim at big plans, big hopes, big schemes and big goals without realising their true potential. As a result a big gap is created within desire to get somewhere and their frustration of actually getting nowhere. This expectation gap is a source of high stress that leads of frustration and disappointment and in turn anger and aggression again.

10. Anger should never be seen as a sinful, unacceptable or wrong emotion. Like all other human emotions anger is also a useful and natural emotion which is important to live a balanced life (Chapman, 2008). Children should not be taught to suppress or control their anger and resist themselves from expressing it in the open rather they must be taught how to deal with anger in a constructive manner. It is very important to teach a child to recognise the important of anger from a very younger age itself because it has numerous positive results associated with it (Tavris, 1989). Children should be given opportunity to express their natural feeling in a non-destructive manner. They should be provided with enough support to deal constructively with their anger and find solutions to their problems. Teaching a child how to handle his anger in a constructive manner will help him throughout his life in resolving conflicts in a constructive way and also developing healthy growing relationships.

References

Chapman, G. D., (2008) Anger: Handling a Powerful Emotion in a Healthy Way. London: Moody Publishers.

Harbin, T. J., (2000) Beyond Anger: A Guide for Men : how to Free Yourself from the Grip of Anger and Get More Out of Life. London: Thomas J. Harbin.

Hoffman, M., (2009) Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Immaturity. Bloomington: AuthorHouse.

Huesmann, L., (1994) Aggressive Behavior: Current Perspectives. Hamburg: Springer Science & Business Media.

Moragne, W., (2011) Depression. London: Twenty-First Century Books.

Posnock, R., (2008) Philip Roth’s Rude Truth: The Art of Immaturity. New York: Princeton University Press.

Randall, R., (2010) Work Psychology: Understanding Human Behaviour in the Workplace. London: Financial Times Prentice Hall,.

Tavris, C., (1989) Anger: The Misunderstood Emotion. New York: Simon and Schuster.