If you have anger issues, you most likely already know about the effects of anger on your mental health. But do you fully understand why? First, anger is an emotion that itself is not an issue. In fact, it’s healthy. It helps you let out all the stress you have inside and act confidently in situations you might not feel comfortable in. Studies have shown: “Anger is the primary emotion that leads people to get up and change their life.” So, under most circumstances anger is a healthy emotion.
However, it’s only healthy until you lose control over the anger. But once you lose control, anger turns into a major problem. In fact, those unhealthy outbursts of rage impact your overall lifestyle poorly, especially your mental health. In fact, a recent study reveals that problems with anger management elevate the level of GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder). Therefore, anger absolutely affects our mental health.
Today, we’re bringing you several effects of anger on your mental health. So, we invite you to continue reading to learn about the effects of anger on your mental health and how you can better manager your anxious outbursts of anger.
3 Effects of Anger on Your Mental Health
1. High blood pressure.
When your body is under stress, it releases the hormone adrenaline. Adrenaline creates a stressful condition that sometimes results in an outburst. The release of this hormone also results in different changes in your body such as headaches and high blood pressure.
Your blood pressure goes back to normal once the stress releases. But, if you experience frequent fits of rage, the frequent rise in blood pressure will cause your body to adapt to the high blood pressure as your normal blood pressure. Therefore, you continue to experience negative effects on your mental health. Then, those negative effects manifest in various unpleasant ways such as:
- Continuous headaches.
- Dizziness.
- Issues with concentration.
- Fatigue.
- Short temper.
- Overwhelming negative feelings.
In the long term, high blood pressure might have some fatal effects on your mental as well as physical health, such as:
- Strokes.
- Memory issues.
- Vision problems.
- Nosebleeds.
- Kidney issues.
- Heart issues.
2. Stress and anxiety.
Anger does not always result in aggressive explosions. Sometimes it seeps into your mind like poison and ends up as stress or anxiety. Short-term symptoms of stress resulting from unexpressed anger are dizziness, nausea, lower heart palpitations, and problems with concentration. So, if you’re holding pent up anger, you might experience some unpleasant side effects.
Interestingly, if stress and anxieties go untreated, it can lead to chronic sleep disorders and serious memory issues.
3. Triggers cortisol hormone.
Episodes of anger result in the release of cortisol hormone in your brain. Too much of this hormone eventually causes death of neuron cells in the frontal part of your brain that includes the hippocampus too.
This explains why it is difficult for someone with chronic anger issues to remember what they did during their outburst. Also, this neuron death makes it difficult for someone to comprehend between wrong and right. If this is the case, they might end up hurting themself or others. Or less harmfully, blurt out things that they later regret.
3 Effects of Anger on Your Mental Health Click To TweetExcellent types of therapy to explore.
EMDR therapy:
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy (Shapiro, 2001) was initially developed in 1987 for the treatment of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and is guided by the Adaptive Information Processing model (Shapiro 2007). EMDR is an individual therapy typically delivered one to two times per week for a total of 6-12 sessions, although some people benefit from fewer sessions.
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Cognitive behavioral therapy:
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy involves helping you switch your thoughts and behavioral patterns. It helps you understand what the situation is for you that triggers anger.
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Dialectical behavioral therapy:
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy is a holistic approach to a calmer life when you learn the skills of mindfulness. This helps you to accept the current situations and stay in the moment.
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Psychodynamic therapy:
Psychodynamic therapy is as effective as cognitive-behavioral therapy. According to research, it helps treat depression the same way. This therapy is firmly grounded in contemporary clinical practice and research.
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As you can easily see, the effects of anger on your mental health are serious. So, if you’re experiencing anger more often than normal, you must consult a therapist. A therapist will suggest the right counseling, group therapy sessions, or anger management exercises. Or in case of chronic and fatal anger management issues, a therapist might suggest a prescription medication as well as non-prescription choices in the way of supplements. Remember, it takes some time and patience, but eventually you will learn to manage your anger.
It is our wish that you find this post enlightening and helpful. If you have any questions or suggestions, we love to hear from you in the comments below. Also, kindly accept our invitation to join our group on Facebook to surround yourself with kindred spirits and post your encouraging messages.
