The Negative Impact Of Stress And Anger

Stress and Anger: Why both are Harmful

The techniques of anger and stress management are similar. This can be attributed to the similarity in the nature of both anger and stress. The common link is that both are linked psychologically. The following holds true for anger as well as stress:

Stress and Anger are Affected by Perception

There are some common events that trigger anger in everyone. But the degree to which this anger takes hold of the individual varies across individuals. The other factor that plays a crucial role in a potentially hostile situation is perception or interpretation. For instance, two individuals may be faced with a cut off at a traffic snarl. While one individual will interpret the situation as hostile, the other individual may feel that the driver that offended may have overlooked these drivers or alternatively be engrossed in his or her own thoughts. Thus, the latter would just let the event pass. We can infer that for both individuals three things were common: stimulus, belief, response.  Whereas the stimulus was the same for both individuals, the belief and response were completely opposite.

Some Individuals are more Vulnerable to Stress and Anger

Certain traits are inherited that make some individuals more vulnerable to anger and stress than others. For instance, certain individuals pay a greater attention to their surroundings. This increases their chances of encountering situations that will trigger the feeling of anger. Such situations might not be attention-grabbing for the rest. Another factor is change. Most individuals do not like the idea of change, which can bring along with it stressful situations and eventually an outburst of anger. Some individuals tend to get frustrated easily. Though largely inherited, some of these traits can be brought under a healthy control.

Attitudes Play a Role in Stress and Anger

The thought patterns of individuals often do not seem to change. But, they can be altered to some extent. These thought patterns play a decisive role in our experiences of anger and stressful events. Some individuals are by nature pessimistic. Such individuals are more likely to attribute errors of others as acts filled with cruelty and malice. One negative event may be interpreted as a signal for more to come, which will only worsen the state of anger.

Your Management of Stress and Anger

Anger and stress are common, everyday events. Our reaction toward angry and stressful events will be the deciding factor for their levels. Take stress for instance. We cannot prevent events that may be potentially stressful. However, these events can be effectively managed through the practice of breathing exercises or maintaining a personal journal. In a similar way, we are not in control of events that can make an individual angry. But we can effectively manage this anger so that it does not get out of control. Expressing anger in negative ways such as suppressing it will only worsen its effects.

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