Many people think that letting anger out or catharsis of anger reduces anger escalation. Some parents and groups teach children to rip up magazines and throw things when they get angry.
What really happens? Research studies have proven that ventilation of anger simply rehearses anger!
Anger emanates from the amydala – the emotional center of the brain. Once it is triggered the frontal cortex of the brain needs to take over quickly or anger will unleash itself in unhealthy ways.
In fact the frontal cortex of your brain needs to be prepared to make a quick and sound judgment of the situation as soon as anger is triggered. You can’t make an accurate decision or response if you tend to have hot self-talk or irrational beliefs such as: “he can’t bully me”, “I have a right to get..”(sense of entitlement) or cognitive distortions like: jumping to conclusions or mind-reading.
The end result of uninterrrupted anger expression is harmful – when you don’t assess the issues and take steps towards constructive action.
Anger management skills that have proven effective are: relaxation, changing thinking patterns, learning how to be assertiveness, empathize, forgive and manage conflict.
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