Introduction
Anger is one of the emotions considered basic or primary and therefore it is universal and tries to be adaptive. The emotion of anger tries to prepare the body to react to a situation that is considered contempt or offense. Anger is associated with rage, fury, resentment, irritability, annoyance, hostility, indignation and in its most extreme positions, with pathological violence and hatred.
According to Izard, anger is a primary response of the organism when it is blocked from achieving a goal or satisfying a need. This emotional reaction is usually associated with situations in which the person perceives an offense or aggression and that generates a feeling of indignation or anger. These feelings will be more intense the more unjustified, gratuitous or outrageous the damages are considered.
Anger activates us in such a way that it prepares the organism to initiate and maintain intense levels of focused, goal-directed activation as part of the “fight” survival response. This mobilization of the sympathetic nervous system seeks to restore one’s own protection, dignity, strength and resistance.
This emotion has a great impact on our well-being and health, and there are three ways to express it: suppression (never expressing it), expression (doing it habitually) and control (deciding whether to express it or not), the latter being the most adaptive. Suppression tends to generate the call Internal Anger, which is closely associated with the development of cardiovascular disorders, since all the energy that is mobilized does not find any way of channeling and “resonates” within the person, potentially damaging their vital systems in the long term. The expression leads us to the call External Angerwhich, although it is healthier for the body, on a social level, has a very negative impact on the person’s relationships.
Symptoms
Regarding physical symptoms, anger activates the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system, but to a lesser extent than fear. It is associated with an increase in heart rate, muscle tension, blood pressure, skin conductance and increased heat in the facial area.
At the behavioral level, any association between the experience of anger and aggressive behaviors is not a question of essential cause-effect, it is an increase in the probability of aggression if anger is expressed. Regarding facial expression, there is jaw tension and the ancestral vestige of showing teeth, such as a tendency to bite. The gaze is fixed, direct and the brow is furrowed.
aggressive behavior
According to Mergargee, the appearance of aggressive behavior is determined by four factors that in turn interact with the intensity of the response:
– The potential for aggression: The internal factors that cause the individual to physically attack someone.
– The habit intensity: the more times aggressive behavior has been reinforced in pursuit of its objective, the more tendency there will be to develop it.
– The IFnhibitions against aggression: Depending on the educational context in which the person has developed, aggressiveness may have been viewed negatively and therefore sanctioned or, on the contrary, legitimized as necessary.
– The situation favors or inhibitsFor example, soccer games can be contexts where aggression toward the referee or the other team is favored, pressured by group influence.
From the resulting equation between inhibitory and enhancing factors, the possibility of aggressive behavior appearing will increase or not.
Inhibitory factors must be worked on in therapy; These factors are internal, such as learning history, genetic predisposition or hormonal issues, and external, such as coexistence norms, social factors and possible sanctions.
Treatment
– Improve knowledge about emotions in general and the particularities of anger, as well as its possibilities for regulation.
– Make the person aware of internal and external manifestations of anger in your particular case, to learn to recognize them in advance and thus reduce the probability of emitting aggressive behaviors.
– Improved emotional communicationas a vehicle for the expression of anger, and channeling the energy it mobilizes, as well as increasing conflict management strategies.
– Increased emotional regulation strategies with special strengthening of attentional processes and body awareness.