Anger management
Anger management is a psycho-therapeutic program for anger prevention and control. It has been described as deploying anger successfully.
Anger is frequently a result of frustration, or of feeling blocked or thwarted from something the subject feels is important. Anger can also be a defensive response to underlying fear or feelings of vulnerability or powerlessness. Anger management programs consider anger to be caused by an identifiable reason, which can be logically analyzed and addressed.
Overview
The ideal goal of anger management is to control and regulate anger so that it does not result in problems. Anger is an active emotion that calls a person feeling it to respond. People get into anger issues because both the instigator and instigated lack interpersonal and social skills to maintain self-control. The experience of anger reduces impulse control and harms decision-making. People can learn to respond to their anger as unwanted and unpleasant rather than react to its need. Turning a blind eye or forgiveness is a tool to turn anger off. Getting enough sleep, exercising, and eating a good diet can all help to prevent anger.One study showed that people with anger management problems tend to not internalize blame for their actions. Encouraging people with anger issues to adopt a more empathetic and complex theory of mind is one approach to anger management.
History
In de Ira, Seneca the Younger advised for pre-emptively guarding against confrontational situations, perspective taking, and not inciting anger in anger-prone individuals. Other philosophers echoed Seneca with Galen recommending seeking out a mentor for aid in anger reduction.In the Middle Ages, saints generally advocated for meekness and humility, but some distinguished between rational anger and irrational anger.
Modern anger management programs are based on psychological research. Classical psychotherapy based anger management interventions originated in the 1970s. Success in treating anxiety with cognitive behavioral therapy interventions developed by Meichebaum inspired Novaco to modify the stress inoculation training to be suitable for anger management. Meichebaum, and later Novaco, used each aspect of experiencing the relevant emotion as an opportunity for improvement to the patient's overall well-being.
Potential causes of anger issues
Drug addiction, alcoholism, a mental disability, biochemical changes and PTSD can all lead to a person committing an aggressive act against another person.Prolonged or intense anger and frustration contributes to physical conditions such as headaches, digestive problems, high blood pressure and heart disease.
Problems dealing with angry feelings may be linked to psychological disorders such as anxiety or depression.
Angry outbursts can be a way of trying to cope with unhappiness or depression.
Parenting practices, child abuse, and exposure to domestic violence all correlate with aggressive behavior in children.
A 2013 study of children with migraine found that there was a correlation between inhibited anger and higher frequency of migraine attacks.
PTSD is correlated with increased anger; in longitudinal studies, PTSD leads to anger, but anger does not lead to PTSD.
Types of treatment
Anger treatments' success rates can be difficult to estimate because excessive, severe anger is not a recognized disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Some research does exist on comparing various treatments for anger, but they also describe methodological difficulties in making accurate comparisons. The best practice for anger treatment is to use multiple techniques rather than a single technique. The relaxation approach had the highest success rate as a standalone treatment. The effectiveness of the CBT-based anger management therapies has been evaluated by a number of meta-analyses. In a 1998 meta-analysis with 50 studies and 1640 individuals, measures of anger and aggression were used to compare the effects of the anger management intervention with no treatment. A significant effect for anger management was found with a 67% chance of improvement for individuals having received the anger management as compared to the individuals without the therapy. In addition, a 2009 meta-analysis compared psychological treatments for anger across 96 studies. After an average of 8 sessions, a significant improvement in anger reduction resulted. Overall, the completion of an anger management program is likely to result in long-lasting positive changes in behavior. Successful interventions can result in not only a reduction of the outward display of aggression, but also a decrease in the internal level of anger.Some effective anger management techniques include relaxation techniques, monitored breathing exercises, cognitive restructuring and imagery, problem solving, improving communication strategies and interpersonal skills.
Decreasing arousal
A 2024 meta-analysis of 154 studies found that anger management treatments that focus on decreasing arousal are effective in decreasing anger and aggression. These include breathwork, mindfulness and meditation.Relaxation therapy can reduce cognition and motivations to act out, and through relaxation, clients gain coping skills to better manage their anger. This therapy addresses various aspects of anger such as physiological, cognitive, behavioral, and social. These aspects combined are what make relaxation an effective treatment for anger. Mindfulness attempts to teach clients acceptance of bodily sensations and emotions. Mindfulness originated in Eastern spiritual traditions that are practiced through meditation. A two-prong component of mindfulness includes: self-regulation and orientation toward the present moment. The center of this therapy technique is experiencing the present moment in a non-judgmental manner that is reflective of meditation. In practice, clients observe breathing, sitting and walking during meditations. The goal is for clients to understand that his or her thoughts of anger are merely thoughts rather than reality. Mindfulness is also a technique used in the relaxation approach because the technique halts physiological arousal. An example of this is Meditation on the Soles of the Feet which has been shown to help persons with mild intellectual disability decrease aggressive behavior by mindfully focusing on the soles of their feet.
Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program
The Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program is a program that was used in a study consisting of Air Force families. The families were assigned to either a traditional multi-couple group format or a self-directed book version focusing on relationship satisfaction and anger management skills. There was a significant main effect for time related to both relationship satisfaction, and anger management skills,.Cognitive behavioral therapy
The use of cognitive behavioral therapy is frequent in anger management treatment. By trying to get patients to open up about their emotions and feelings and being driven to accomplish a specific task, a person is cognitively motivated to use positive skills towards their behavior.Studies show using a mix of CBT as well as other therapies on the participants/clients increased the effective usage of the anger management techniques and that they also felt more in control of their own anger. Personal changes like these can lead to less aggression and fewer violent acts. The use of play therapy with this is also found efficient in tackling anger issues among children.
Rational emotive behavior therapy explains anger through the client's beliefs and emotion, rather than the event itself. The concept involves clients interpreting events in a rational manner in order to avoid irrational thoughts that lead to anger. Delayed reaction technique is when clients attempt to uncover what is making them angry before acting out on their anger. This allows them to have time to change what is making them angry and increase time before their response; this encourages thought on a more rational level. In addition, clients are also encouraged to avoid demands in an anti-oppressive order to avoid anger. An example of a demand placed on a client may be that, "I have to have this done by my standards". Research is starting to show that the better individuals understand what anger management is and how it can help them personally and in relationships, aggressive actions are less likely to occur.
Positive mentalization and personal development
This is a style that is commonly used in elementary schools for students expressing anger outbursts. Researchers who have looked into the reason for young student anger have found that one common reason could be the inability to adjust socially. Students that were selected for this study received a daily one-hour session throughout one week of school. The researchers of the mentalization program educated children through group therapy in positive psychology and tried to do activities that put the child in a happy mood while interacting. At the end of the week, research showed that there was a negative correlation between anger and social adjustment. This process lowered the overall anger levels of the students involved in social adjustment deficits.Use of personal development led to higher views of themselves and more positive self-esteem. Aggression has been shown to be a result of poor self-worth as well as thinking that those around us do not care or support us, so this PD is vital in helping change a person's self-perception.
Anger journaling
Understanding one's own emotions can be a crucial piece of learning how to deal with anger. Children who wrote down their negative emotions in an "anger diary" actually ended up improving their emotional understanding, which in turn led to less aggression. When it comes to dealing with their emotions, children show the ability to learn best by seeing direct examples of instances that led to certain levels of anger. By seeing the reasons why they got angry, they can in the future try to avoid those actions or be prepared for the feeling they experience if they do find themselves doing something that typically results in them being angry.Simply logging episodes of anger could also be beneficial. Middle school students with emotional disorders who completed regular "anger logs" showed pronounced improvement of anger management. According to Keller, Bry and Salvador, students who used anger logs "were observed to exhibit significantly more prosocial behaviors toward their teachers and showed a trend toward exhibiting fewer negative behaviors toward peers".
Reflecting on feelings of anger in writing can be a type of Cognitive Behavioral Intervention, or a self-strategy used to combat negative thoughts.