The Relationship Between Anxiety and Anger
Talking about anxiety and anxiety disorder we rarely think about anger. In most cases anxiety is related to fears and fear is the exact opposite to bravery. Bravery is one of the major ingredients of anger – people feel that they have to be brave to feel angry. Unfortunately there are cases when people actually feel angry as a result of their anxiety. Often when a person suffers from anxiety disorder he/she may feel hopeless which can lead to anger.
Explaining the relationship between anxiety and anger is difficult and it’s almost impossible to tell if anger causes anxiety or it comes as a result of it. It can actually be both the cause and the consequence from anxiety. Often people suffer from anxiety as a result of their issues with anger. The reason is very simple – person who experiences trouble managing his anger may also experience anxiety as a result of that. Often such a person can be anxious most of the time because he cannot handle that anger.
What Are the Symptoms of Anxiety and Anger?
No matter if anger is a symptom or a cause of anxiety it is important to be able to notice the problem quickly and take some actions to manage it. Often people with anxiety and/or anger issues tend to neglect the symptoms and rely on the thought that this is only a period and it will pass away. Not paying attention to serious conditions like that only aggravates them and can lead to more serious problems like chronic depression and more severe anxiety disorders. Here are some of the basic symptoms of anxiety and anger that you should pay attention to:
You lose control easily
Losing control is major part of anxiety and also a major lesson. People with anxiety issues often fear that they will lose control and like everything will fall apart. This loss of control is expressed strongly in panic attacks, during which the leading feeling is that we don’t have control over the situation or our life. Losing control naturally can lead to anger – we became angrier with ourselves and often with others because of our incapability to handle the situation. The irony here is that often to beat that feeling of losing control we should actually accept that this is normal and we cannot be in control of each aspect and situation in our lives.
Irritation has become your “best friend"
Irritation is an inevitable part of anxiety. People with anxiety issues have constant irritation as they always find something to worry about. Even if everything seems to be alright, people with anxiety can imagine different scenarios of how things might go wrong and this naturally irritates them. Irritation, as with most of the feelings that accompany anxiety, is a negative emotion which can make people more prone to experience many other negative emotions including anger. Often people with anxiety who are constantly feeling irritation get upset really quickly when other people “bother" them and this can easily make them angry.
The other people are responsible for your condition
One of the most difficult aspects of anxiety is to realize that the main reason for your anxious feeling is you. Often people with anxiety issues tend to pass the blame on other people or situations in order to explain somehow the way they feel. You can repeatedly hear people with anxiety tell you that their boss is responsible for their stress, or the job is not good for them, their partner in life is awful, their friends disappointed them. Here comes the difficult part where we have to realize that these situations in most cases are consequences of our own choices.. Passing blame to others can easily upset us and make us angry. However accumulating such amount of negative emotions and anger is never healthy and leads to anger outburst which can lead us back to anxiety because we are not capable of managing the situation.
How to Manage Your Anxiety?
Do determine what causes your anger, you will have to pay attention to both your anxiety and anger. There are several easy and effective steps that you can make in order to cope with your anxiety issues.
Practice breathing
If this is not your first article on that topic, you have probably heard a few times that breathing means the world when we are talking about anxiety. You can make a plan and start practicing special kinds of relaxing breathing every day. You have to learn to breathe deeply and with a normal pace in order to reduce stress.
Exercising
Any kind of physical activities are welcome as a part of stress-relief. You can think of something that you like and start practicing it every week or every day if you have time. Activities like jogging, fitness, and dance will help you to improve your overall health and your mood.
Yoga and meditation
If you want to cut anxiety out of your life you’ll have to pay attention not only to your body, but also to your mind. Often people do not realize how important it is to be able to rest at the end of the day and relax your brain. Just think about it – when you have been working a hard, physical job all day, you need to lay down and relax your muscles at the end of the day, right? It is the same with your brain. Yoga and meditation are one of the best ways for relaxing your mind and body after being exposed to pressure.
How to cope with my anger?
Living with anxiety can easily make you angry with the whole world. It may feel as though nothing is under your control and you can’t manage the situation. However, there are also some things that you can practice to learn to control your anxiety and avoid anger.
Write down your thoughts
This can work for both anxiety and anger. When you are feeling angry, you can notice how many negative and angry thoughts rush through your mind. Realizing that the anger is boiling, people are often trying to suppress these thoughts or not pay attention. You can try to express them in writing. Keeping a record of all the angry thoughts can help you as an alternative and safe way to express those feelings rather that keep them inside.
And again breathe and relax
If your anger is a consequence of anxiety, you will have to work on anxiety first and the anger will fade away. As we already talked about breathing and its importance, it’s really crucial to pay attention to this aspect and learn how to breathe and relax properly.
Learn to let go
You will have to learn how to let go of things and negative emotions and thoughts instead of feeding into them, which only worsens your state of mind. You will have to work on that and try not to fight those feelings. Instead, try to accept them and accept that these are normal periods and you cannot control everything all of the time.