Anger

Problems with anger can also be understood by how a person is affected in the five areas of being in a specific situation, having negative thoughts, feelings, behaviours and physical reactions.

The content of negative thinking when people are angry has to do with something not being fair, or because PERSONAL RULES HAVE BEEN BROKEN. We can call these the ‘RULES OF ANGER’. People usually get angry because they think something is unjust or that things aren’t the way they should be. We become angry if we think we have been treated unfairly and may feel hurt and damaged, but anger is not so much about the hurt or damage, but that RULES HAVE BEEN VIOLATED.

Most angry feelings are normal and part of life, but problems arise when these rules and expectations are unrealistic or exaggerated. What are fair and reasonable expectations varies greatly among people. CBT can help to challenge these and try to see these in perspective.

Anger can be maintained by these negative thoughts. It is made worst by negative behaviour and then worse still, when people realize this behaviour doesn’t help solve the problem or ‘fix’ the rules that were broken. We can explain this by the following ...

• SITUATION
• THOUGHTS ABOUT ANGER RULES
  
• BEHAVIOUR THAT ATTEMPT TO CONTROL
  
• CONTROL FAILED