2 having doubled in 12 months.
Until recently, however, showing anger
was a sign of belligerence, or a lack of rational
self-control. Most people tried to keep the lid
on their simmering rage, as righteous anger
was something reserved for God and the
clergy. But now, says historian Dr Barbara
H Rosenwein, anger has “been secularised
and generalised... and everybody’s anger is
virtuous.” Whichever cause you support,
whether it’s feminism, eco-activism or
Brexit, expressing indignation can now
feel brave and noble, and is a form of moral
superiority. But is it necessarily productive?SEEING RED
“Aggressive behaviour comes with huge
economic costs,” says Dr Nadja Heym, a
psychologist at Nottingham Trent University
who specialises in individual differences,
psychopathology and antisocial behaviour.
“It has a huge impact on relationships, work
performance, mental health, and health
in general.” While we can’t avoid anger
arising, allowing it to become persistent
and chronic increases the risk of crossing
the line into abusiveness. “It’s functional
to outlet your anger to some extent,” saysHeym. “[But] what can be dysfunctional
is how intensely and how frequently you
express it, and how long it takes.”
As a basic survival instinct in reaction to
a provocation, frustration or threat, anger is
a trigger for the fight or flight response. “It’s
a hardwired emotion which can mobilise
us physically and energise us,” says Heym.
The heart starts racing, adrenaline kicks
in and a red mist can descend. To control
these animal instincts that are associated
with the brain’s amygdala, our orbitofrontal
cortex provides context, while our frontal
lobes monitor and regulate our emotions.
But this system can be dysregulated,
sometimes through genetic inheritance
but also learned through example (such
as growing up in a violent household) or
poor anger management.
“We have this unpleasant cardiovascular
response [when we feel angry] that can
raise more negative feelings, and we
feel we need to get rid of them,” says
Heym. Letting it all out in an outburst
can bring a sense of relief, but the more
we do it, “the more we associate that
relief with anger outbursts.” This can lead to mindless raging
trumping acting more productively on your anger. Similarly,
ruminating and stewing will facilitate more angry outbursts.
“If we keep ruminating over that anger, and over the triggers that
have caused that anger, we carry that negative emotion with us,
which can intensify over time,” she adds.ABOVEPeople are more
likely to exhibit angry,
agressive behaviour when
part of a crowd
“THE TROUBLE WITH NON-STOPACCESS TO SOCIAL MEDIA AND NEWSOUTLETS IS THAT OUR BOUNDARIES,IDENTITIES AND VALUES CAN BEASSAULTED WHENEVER WE LOOKAT OUR PHONES”