Anger is a natural emotion. Everyone has experienced it, and it falls from mild annoyance to rage. If you experience anger daily, if your anger easily and often escalates to fury, or if it has led to verbal or physical violence against others or yourself, you need to find ways to control your anger so it does not end up controlling you. The best way to do that is in an anger management program.
Anger often plays a significant role in addiction. Whether you are currently seeking addiction treatment or want help learning how to manage anger, reach out to Apex Recovery Nashville to find out how we can help you as you work on managing your anger. We have knowledgeable, experienced, and compassionate staff ready to answer your questions. Call 615.703.4639 or complete this online form to connect with us.
Anger and Addiction
People with a substance use disorder (SUD) often have anger issues. People raised in angry, violent homes are at higher risk of addiction. Drugs or alcohol are used to medicate roiling emotions because these individuals never learned how to cope with angry feelings in a healthy way.
Not only does anger raise the risks of developing an SUD, but people with an SUD are more likely to develop anger issues. One of the ways anger and addiction interact is that substance abuse helps people squash their emotions and avoid dealing with them. Eventually, unexpressed or unmanaged anger can boil over. Often violent expressions of anger, for example, in domestic abuse, road rage, or hostility in daily life, lead people to seek addiction treatment. For many people, anger management programs are court-mandated for people in rehab because the police must get involved.
Tips for Managing Your Anger
There are numerous techniques you can learn that reduce or eliminate anger. Five tips for anger management are listed below.
- Recognize your triggers and step away – What situations most likely inspire a fit of rage? A traffic jam? Criticism? Long lines? Frustration? These situations can feel like an anger button being pushed. Try techniques that calm anger, like deep breathing or step away. Find a strategy at the moment that helps you avoid escalation.
- Get exercise – If you are about to explode, running or lifting weights can redirect your anger. Better yet, get regular exercise. The flood of endorphins from regular exercise can help you manage your anger even between workouts. You can also use the quiet time on the track or in the gym to think about your triggers, why you are quick to anger, and how your anger may affect your life.
- Recognize the warning signs of anger – Anger often seems to flare instantly. Still, if you stop to pay attention, you’ll realize there are physical symptoms, like a racing heart, elevated pulse, clenched fists, or a rise in body temperature. There may be cognitive shifts as well. You can consciously change outcomes if you can acknowledge these signs in time.
- Breathing, meditation, and full-body relaxation – Deep breathing exercises can lower your heart rate in minutes. Also, consider meditation or, if you don’t have the time or inclination, sit quietly for three minutes and do a progressive muscle relaxation, starting at your scalp and moving to your toes. These techniques are proven to reduce the physical side effects and amplifiers of rage, like adrenaline, cortisol, and a racing heart and pulse.
- Be honest about what you are feeling – Anger is an emotion. It often arises when other underlying feelings are not recognized, addressed, and processed. You can explore your emotions if you are willing to be honest. What is masked by your quick anger? When you can process the genuine underlying emotion, you may be able to skip rage and move on to healing.
At Apex Recovery Nashville, you can learn how to manage anger to pursue a more balanced life and recovery from an SUD.
Learn More About Anger Management at Apex Recovery Nashville
In addition to numerous evidence-based therapies, Apex Recovery Nashville offers an anger management program that can enhance the success of your long-term recovery. Call 615.703.4639 or submit this form today to learn more.