How to: Dealing with Anger

Writer: Johnny Abi Younis

Going through puberty, teenagers want their independence, so they ‘rebel’ against adults’ orders, and get offended way too easily. Some teenagers tend to let it out the wrong way without knowing it. But, how can we let it all out?

First of all, anger triggers the body’s “fight or flight” system. It also triggers fear, excitement and anxiety. The body is flooded with stress hormones. The body prepares itself for a physical reaction by increasing the heart rate, blood pressure and respiration. The temperature rises and the skin perspires.

Recurrent anger comes with a flood of stress hormones and metabolic changes that can cause harm to the body’s systems. The most common health problems caused by unmanaged anger are headaches, digestion problems, abdominal pain, insomnia, high blood pressure, stroke and heart attacks…

Healthy ways to deal with anger:

• Accept the emotion as a part of your life.

• When your anger is getting out of control, walk away from the argument/situation to calm down before you go back.

• Practice a physical activity. Sports help in letting out any emotions, especially anger. Wrestling or boxing mostly help. Besides, fighting with the rules is better than throwing random punches in the middle of the street.

• If you’re not a physically active type of person, you can practice any form of art or expression. Painting, drawing or even writing what you feel helps. You can also practice/listen to music to calm your nerves.

• Find out the reason for your anger and come up with different solutions.

• Try relaxing techniques such as yoga.

• In case of anger towards past events, consider seeing a counsellor or a psychologist.

• Organize your life. Being unorganized passively affects our mood.

• Practice controlled breathing. When you feel angry, close your eyes and focus on breathing steadily, it will somehow help you cool down.

• Use stress toys. Squeezing the toy to let out anger is better than punching or kicking. You won’t injure yourself in the process as well.

• Look at funny or silly stuff to change you mood. You can either look up silly stuff online or if you’re angry at someone and you call them names, imagine them as what you call them. Per example, if you called someone a douchebag, try to imagine their special physical traits on a douchebag. (a quite entertaining activity if I say so myself)

In the end, you should remember and accept that anger is a part of your life. Realize that anger is a helpful emotion if you expressed it in the right and appropriate way. 

Turning negativity into productivity is a skill every human needs to master.