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In a more terse form it is defined as, “A strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility.” It is not about a threat, nor hurt but rather about our perceptions of being provoked, being hurt emotionally or being threatened. It is also said that, “A person experiencing anger will also experience physical conditions, such as increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, and increased levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline.[4] Some view anger as an emotion which triggers part of the fight or flight brain response.[5] Anger is used as a protective mechanism to cover up fear, hurt or sadness.”
What I wanted to know most is, “Why do we humans have this emotion?”, “What does it do for us?” and “Is it still a necessary emotion for our modern times?”
In my answer from my personal research, “Anger, a perfectly natural emotion but one which, when distorted, causes untold suffering (violent crime, war, terrorism, domestic violence). This highly charged emotion is inextricably linked to our fight-or-flight response, a threat-protection mechanism that’s triggered by a primitive part of our brain. When we feel under threat, this powerful response kicks in, readying us in microseconds to either freeze, take flight or to fight.”
For instance, “If our brain decides fighting is the best option, it sends a ripple of anger throughout our body which, along with a healthy shot of adrenaline and the blood pumping to our major muscles, readies us for action.”
Emotions are our base security system for survival, i.e., our emotions when triggered propel us into action and as to anger, its alarm when triggered pumps us full of chemicals and trigger our base instincts of survival.
In truth, we cannot discard, dissuade or suppress our emotions for that tactic is chock full of repercussions the very bane of modern medical institutions. All of our emotions are there for a reason, i.e., good vs. bad and gradients thereof balance out our human emotions, i.e., “Problems start when we develop an ‘aversive’ reaction to these emotions - thinking, for example, that we should never get angry, or that it’s somehow a sign of weakness to feel sad. We then find ways of suppressing those emotions, which means they churn away inside, causing all sorts of problems for our physical and psychological health.”
We first and foremost have to accept the fact that we have emotions and upon acceptance we need to find out what they are, how they affect us and those understanding should allow us to find coping skills to not stop, avoid or suppress but to handle, deal and not allow them to control us and our actions. Then we can take actions to encode our primal conditioned responses along with those innate instinctual response of our lizard brain, nature, so that we can trigger more appropriate, acceptable and less dangerous emotions of anger, fear and others that tend to create havoc and chaos in life.
Another perspective says, “Anger is an old animal program that emerges from the reptilian brain - the lizard rises up hisses and attacks. The human rises, threatens with gestures and then, optionally, attacks. Anger energizes aggressive behavior and is both protective and destructive at the same time.” It is the emotion that takes us through the various threat displays and levels of social violence, i.e., the proverbial monkey dance of egoistic testerone infused male of our species. We get angry, we bump chests, we posture and yell - all forms of communications to say if you do this I will stop and if you don’t I am willing to do more - and then if all else fails we flail at one another until dominance is achieved by one party or the other.
“Anger is a pure and fundamental emotion that is preprogrammed in the amygdala. Anger is a program in the amygdala and when it is turned on, it is really on; when it is turned off, it is really off.”
We are tribal, we create clans for survival and that means protection from predators. It is also said, “Predators, sharing a kill, will growl, snap and jostle each other for a bigger share of the catch, but a pre-established pecking order will usually prevail and minimize the harmful consequences of the competition for food.” This same hierarchal system along with pecking order established as status in humans all work toward the bare needs of survival as described.
When I speak of social monkey dancing it is about anger but a natural control of said anger as a member of a tribe of humans because, “If every competition led to a serious fight, there would be few survivors. Some members of a group must submit to minimize conflict; anger-submission is a behavioral dyad with survival value. Without submission, anger escalates into aggressive conflict leading to injury or death. Fights tend to have their own rules and suspend rules that tend to promote rational and humane behavior.”
When society and the clan/tribe start to fall apart then we are exposed to a run away train of emotions with anger the train engine puffing out smoke, heat rising in the engine and speed picking up quickly, i.e., in other words, “Rage is the tornado of emotions, a full-volume, high energy anger that overrides all constraint and control. Rage is physical, brief, violent and destructive. Raging humans destroy property, injure and kill others. Rage is produced by maximal activation of flight and fight systems, rapid heart rate, rapid breathing, high blood pressure, flushing and hypertonicity of all skeletal muscles. Maximal muscle strength is achieved in rage and amazing displays of destructive energy are characteristic of rage attacks.”
So, what do we do to train for anger, fear, frustrations and other negative aspects that lead almost always to conflicts and violence? A good question:
- One, learn and understand and accept this as truth and as natural as breathing. Learn patience and achieve wisdom as tools that control our emotions, especially anger, so that we recognize the triggers or buttons and when pushed we teach ourselves to “STOP” and consider the alternatives to allowing anger to run the train.
- Two, train in even the smallest of situational anger moments for creating that ability to stop anger at that stage may stop it from growing out of control. Allow that type of effort to create a mind-set and mind-state that will allow you to better deal with greater angers, etc.
- Three, learn how to cope and now to mature you emotions so they don’t take over and control your actions and deeds. Make every day a day of training and practice in all you do, say and believe. This builds your patience in the face of adversities and builds the wisdom to discover, recognize and redirect our negative to positive emotions better to deal with conflict and especially violence.
Anger is here to stay, it is a part of us and it is necessary for our species survival. In modern society it has become complex and taken our emotional self to an immature level so taking these actions will restore our emotional balance and maturity to a level more conducive to our survival, to societies needs and beliefs and toward a more appropriate way to handle conflict and violence - the two cornerstones of human existence and survival.
Now, about fear?
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