There are times when anxiety and anger come together in a convulsive, annoying and even self-destructive way . We are faced with two emotional realities that often coexist together, although it is usually the anger contained and repressed for months or years that makes us, sooner or later, get carried away by anxiety disorders.
It is common that the origin of these complex dimensions is our inefficient ability to manage emotions. We say it very often, we constantly focus on it, but this matter is still our pending issue.
After all, nobody has ever explained to us what to do with the frustration, with the contradiction, with the fear or itching of that rage that arises in more than one everyday situation.
Thus, and only as a simple example, the link between anxiety and anger appears regularly in work contexts. Enduring complex working conditions for a long time , in the middle of a harassing climate and with an excessive burden of responsibilities, usually generates a convulsive emotional state in which many sensations, thoughts, feelings intermingle …
To the obvious anger of feeling manipulated or even exploited at work, exhaustion and impotence are added . This time bomb often leads to more than one psychological disorder, with anxiety being the most recurrent. Let us therefore know more aspects on this subject.
Anxiety and anger, those great strangers
Anger is a multifaceted emotion. It arises when we experience a sense of threat, but, in turn, it is inoculated in our mind through a series of cognitions (thoughts) such as “they are offending me, they are attacking my rights, they have deceived me, they are manipulating me, they are committing an injustice …
Now, as we know, this type of emotional state sometimes leads to violent behavior. However, and here comes the most interesting, in a good part of the people where anxiety and anger come together, this does not happen. In them, on average, another emotion intermingles: sadness.
The research focused on a group of young people diagnosed with anxiety disorders and depression. Something that could be seen is that, often, after the origin of these conditions there was often a latent anger long maintained over time, where there was also sadness and a clear defenselessness .
This made, among other things, that patients leave the treatments early. On the other hand, there is another fact that we should consider.
According to this work, the anxiety and anger that we maintain for months and years and that we do not face leads to a weakening of the immune system . In addition, there is an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
Now, how are these two dimensions related? How can we go from a state of anger, rage or disappointment to anxiety? These would be the causes.
We act as if certain situations do not bother us
Live complex family situations, spend years in a harassing job. .. We could give several examples of situations in which we feel violated, attacked, undervalued. All this generates a mixture in which rage, anger, sadness and disappointment oscillates.
Now, something common that is often done is to try to reduce its impact by telling us that ” is what is there, I must bear this .”
When we reduce the options and assume that there is no way out, we give up. And that surrender becomes emotions that we silence and swallow . Sooner or later, such emotional emerge underground, manifesting itself in the form of anxiety.
Fear of reacting
Who cohabits months or years with anxiety and anger is the main enemy of fear . It is he who slows our ability to react, to say enough, to use assertiveness or even to open the door to other options.
The fear of what may happen, what others say or the anguish of whether or not we will be able to face the consequences of our actions is what causes us to remain immersed in situations that generate suffering.
How to reduce the impact of anger to avoid anxiety states
There is no single strategy to reduce the impact of anger; There are actually multiple tools. Now, the most important thing is to prevent it from becoming chronic. We must, above all, understand that emotion, channel it and use its momentum.
Because although we have always conceived this psychological reality as something negative, it contains a positive end that deserves to be taken into account.
Anger, unlike other emotions, invites action. What he wants from us is that we react and that we do it as tightly and properly as possible. Only in this way do we recover homeostasis and only in this way do we improve our reality. Therefore, it is worth reflecting on this data.
Keys to managing anger
- Learn to feel anger. Sometimes, it is necessary to listen calmly and courageously to those uncomfortable emotions to know what they want to tell us. Nothing else is necessary, just connect with ourselves. Remember first of all, that it is not a bad emotion, it is a threshold that you must cross to know yourself better.
- After connecting with your emotions, it is time to make a decision . What should I do? Confronto or I walk away? Do I react or distance myself from that situation that threatens or hurts me?
- Do not leave for tomorrow the emotion you feel today . Find a solution to that annoyance, to that pain, to that internal disturbance. It prevents this discomfort from lasting with a suitable solution.
- Finally, evaluate the result . Is it necessary to do something else?
In conclusion. Since we already know the link between anxiety and anger, it is time to keep this information in mind. All at some time, we go through these dyes, with these complexities where emotions are always at the surface. Let’s handle these situations better and get out of them.