Research Shows Best Way To Handle Anger

                       Sally Fox via Sixty and Me

Anger is a human feeling that everyone has experienced. It can quickly take over and control a person’s logical thought process. Unfortunately, acting out of anger seldom yields a solution to the problem. Fortunately, there are many ways to control anger and find a better solution. Science shows that the best strategy among these is to simply step back and breathe before rationally attempting to solve the problem. This makes it possible to counter the intense grip that anger can have and find better solutions to the problem at hand.

Studies have shown that emotional stimuli, such as anger, can greatly influence decision making. This is entirely by design. Perhaps it is easier to understand with simpler instincts, like hunger. When a person is hungry, they will eat. This is because hunger is uncomfortable by design. Since food is necessary in order to stay alive, our bodies have a built-in way to remind us of when we need to eat, which is called hunger. To be more effective, the feeling when food continues to be denied becomes increasingly unbearable. Eventually, the current activity is put on hold in order to find food so that the feeling recedes.

Anger is designed in the same way. The powerful effects of the emotion can cloud people’s minds, which often leads to poor decisions. Unlike hunger, however, anger is not a simple instinct. It is a much more complex emotion and often has various root causes such as fear or sadness, and solving the problem is usually harder to do.

Since the problem causing anger is often complicated, and anger tends to override our logical thought process, it is easy to quickly be consumed by rage. This can often lead to poor decision making. Things get broken, people get hurt, both physically and emotionally. However, there is one way to control anger that can very much help prevent these instances. In most cases, controlling anger is not as hard as it seems.

“A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention,” Proverbs 15:18. The best way to keep anger from taking over is to simply avoid the point of no return in the first place. When you start to feel yourself getting frustrated, the best course of action is to step back and breathe. In doing so, you shift some of your focus from the problem at hand to a simple task. When you deny the problem the attention that anger wants you to give, you buy yourself some time to calm down. You can use that time most effectively by taking a few deep breaths.

An article by Dr. Bullock states that “several brain regions linked to emotion, attention, and body awareness are activated when we pay attention to our breath.” By taking a few deep breaths, not only do you give yourself some time to relax, you also physically improve your mental state. Deep breathing supplies your brain with more oxygen, thus improving your own rational thinking abilities. When you apply this practice during a state of intense anger, you regain the ability to make conscious, intelligent decisions.

Of course, anger is triggered and managed by people in different ways. Some people might find it extremely difficult to resist the effects of anger, and this strategy takes practice to perfect. Some people might find listening to music or going on a walk to be a better way to manage their anger. The key to anger management is to find a solution that works best for you and does not harm you, property, or loved ones. Deep breathing is simply a popular exercise that many people suggest and is backed with scientific research.

Another common argument would be that stepping back from a problem is not always a viable solution. Some scenarios require immediate action. In these cases, it is important to pick the option that brings the best outcome for everyone involved. Also, it is important to accept that sometimes mistakes are inevitable. Sometimes, the best outcome is still a bad choice, but mitigating damage is the most important rule of thumb. Remember, do unto others as you would have done unto you.

At the end of the day, anger is complex. Many people still do not fully understand it. In its complexity, it takes many forms and can affect different people in many ways. Anger can easily get the better of us if we let it. The strategies that work for some people might not be applicable to others. In some cases, mistakes will be made. In general, however, the best thing to do is to take a few deep breaths. Only when you are calmed down and rational can you begin to make logical problem-solving decisions. Remember that we are not perfect, but we can be forgiven by others and by ourselves.