W-hat is anger management?

Anger management is about understanding your anger and why it happens.

Specifically, anger management is about knowing the triggers and early warning signs of anger, and learning techniques to quiet your lifestyle and manage the situation before it gets out of control. -APS

W-hy manage Anger?

Anger is not usually a good solution to problems, even if it seems helpful in the short term.

People with poor anger management can experience anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, psychosomatic illnesses and problems with alcohol or drugs. It is important, to manage your anger before it manages you.

Researchers have now found that ‘letting it rip' actually escalates anger and aggression and does nothing to resolve the situation. On the other hand, sitting on your anger and not expressing it may lead to the pressure cooker experience that many people are familiar with.

Expressing some feelings of anger in a controlled way, rather than bottling it up, gives you an opportunity to release some of your underlying feelings, so that you can start to tackle the issues that are making you angry.

W-ho needs it?

People struggling with anger issues range from children and adolescents to adults. Common presenting issues include:

• Conflict, unresolved arguments and communication breakdowns within relationships and families
• Emotional and behavioural issues in children and adolescents
• Work-related disputes and concerns
• Domestic violence perpetrators
• Domestic violence victims
• Public violence such as road rage and assaults
• One-off incidents, as well as entrenched patterns of behaviour
• Anger problems associated with drug or alcohol use

Anger management issues rarely occur in isolation. Depression, anxiety, substance use and stress often accompany struggles with anger.

Consider the cost of your aggressive display and its impact on other people. Did you jeopardise your job? Have relationships been damaged? Have you hurt people? If you know your anger often has destructive consequences then it is a problem. If, with all your best intentions, you still get uncontrollably angry and it feels as if it is poisoning you and puts people you care about at risk, do something about it.