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SOUTHERN VOICE ♦ AUGUST 3/1995
11
HEALTH
Body & Soul
Your Emotional Health
by NICHOLETTE SCOFIELD, L.P.C.
Understanding angei part 1
Anger is a feeling of displeasure that
ranges from mild irritation to "blinding"
rage. It, like other emotions, begins with a
sensation of arousal Whether you interpret
this feeling of arousal as anger will depend
upon your life experience. Anger is not bad
or good—it is only a feeling. It is what you
do with your anger that may have negative,
neutral or positive consequences.
You and I get angry about the same
things—being treated in a manner we in
terpret as rejecting, intrusive, disrespectful
or unjust None of us likes it when our be
havior, expectations or wishes are blocked.
We may differ, however, in our interpreta
tions of obstacles and our responses to them.
Some examples: Three of the many people
cut off in traffic today had very different
reactions to the experience. Sue, in her usual
angry mood, interpreted this behavior as a
purposeful attack and, cursing, sped up to
cut the other driver off in retaliation. John
saw it as an inadvertent slip-up; however,
because he had lost his job earlier, he
thought, "This confirms it—nothing ever
goes right for me," and started berating him
self. Ina, after a moment 7 s irritation, said to
herself, "Only sick people behave that way
in traffic I'm glad I'm safe and sane," and
continued on her journey.
Why do people respond to the same
situation in such different ways? The answer
is found in the interaction of "nature" and
"nurture." Each of us is unique—bom with
an individual temperament and degree of
arousal in response to stress. During early
experience within our families, we learned
about handling anger in close relation
ships—how to interpret and act upon situ
ations in which our desires are obstructed.
Some of us learned to see obstacles ev
erywhere, and if, for example, tantrums re
moved impediments in childhood, we may,
as adults, continue using angry outbursts
to try to control situations or others. Others
of us had families in which direct expres
sion of anger might have resulted in severe
punishment, damage to loved ones, or aban
donment. In these cases it was an impor
tant survival skill to find alternate ways of
coping with difficult situations. Some of
these strategies may include passive aggres
sion, attacking oneself or cutting off aware
ness of anger.
Additional training for anger manage
ment comes from our peers and cultural
customs. For example, in cultures where
emphasis is on social cooperativeness, di
rect expression of anger may be discour
aged. In contrast, many American cultures,
with their value on personal fulfillment,
seem to encourage direct expression of an
ger even if it damages social relationships.
Power differences between people may
determine the "appropriateness" of anger
expression. Those in power may find ag
gressiveness is what gets action while
those in subordinate status are more likely
to find accommodation and covert aggres
sion effective.
Whatever your individual experience
of anger, your responses can have impor
tant effects on your health. Imbalance, ei
ther in expressing too much anger or too
little, can harm your health. For example,
chronic, antagonistic hostility has been
reliably linked to heart disease. Poorly
managed hostility also damages social
relationships and reduces the support sys
tem needed in times of stress. Suppressed
anger is not as directly linked to physical
health, but long-erm inhibition of anger
requires effort and occupies energy that
could be used to improve the quality of
your life.
Your anger can be your friend if it mo
tivates you to solve a problem. It can be a
signal that something about yourself
needs to be changed—your attitude or
your circumstances—not those of the
other person. Begin by evaluating the
problem and asking yourself: (A) If I step
outside of the problem and observe it as
others do, would we agree that it is im
portant and justified, and (B) If the prob
lem can be alleviated, what steps can I
take? If it cannot, how can I help myself
accept this?
Part 2 of this discussion—strategies for
making your anger work for you—will be
discussed in Body & Soul in the August 17
issue.
Nicki Scofield is a licensed counselor in
practice in the Emory area. If you have com
ments, questions, or suggestions for future
columns, call or write her c/o Southern Voice.
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