- My ears flush
•I experience dizziness, disorientation
•I sense certain muscles tensing up
•My breathing becomes difficult - My eyesight is affected
- My hearing is affected
- My hands ball up
•I feel the urge to hit, kick, or throw things
In unscientific terms, what is happening in your brain and body is a lit-
eral heating up. A rush of chemicals brought on by rage triggers physical
responses throughout the body. The chief trigger for anger is the sense of
being endangered. This can be brought on by an outright physical threat
or by a symbolic threat to our dignity or self-image. Typically, these threats
are felt when we are treated rudely, talked down to, insulted, ignored, pa-
tronized, or subjected to any other action implying we are not important.
For the sake of restraint, we must try to understand that these auto-
matic chemical responses—designed to protect us—can do us great harm
when misapplied. We are simply experiencing the arousal of the catechol-
amine and adrenocortical systems (chemical reactions) in our brains, and
if we recognize this fact, we can wait it out and rise above it. The first phase
of the emotional rush to overcome is the initial six-second rush—the time
between information reaching the emotional control center and, later, the
rational control center.
Brain researcher, Dolf Zillman, in The Handbook of Mental Control, ex-
plained that the first rush gives us a huge energy lift to prepare us for a “vig-
orous course of action.” This rush can last for minutes and prepares our
bodies for a quick fight. The answer here is simple: door saynothing until
your body’s chemistry normalizes.
ANGER’S SECOND WAVE
After the initial rush of emotion, our rational processes surface, and we
begin to think of ways and reasons for cooling off. During this period of
thought and analysis, however, we continue to feel the resurgence of heated
emotions demanding an outlet in action. During this period, the brain
arouses the adrenocorticol system and keeps us in a state of readiness to fly
off at the slightest provocation. This is why we are much more vulnerable
to a fit of rage if we have been previously irritated or provoked by another
situation beforehand. For example, normally you might not be angry with
your kids being loud and silly, but if you had a stressful day at work, your
Six Seconds of Sabotage / From Anger to Danger 65