How to stop your anger from killing you

Are you angry? Do you want to be happy? Anger is crippling, both emotionally and physically. It has been linked to cancer and other diseases. Pent up anger can ruin relationships and families. As you deal with it, your self-esteem, confidence, and courage will increase.

Most important, you have to understand anger is not "bad". It is simply an emotion and energy. It is a protection system to let you and others know that they are close to crossing the line.

Anger is often thought of as bad, because it is associated with blind rage. Rage is unhealthy. Anger to intimidate is unhealthy. Being abusive and violent is wrong.

So how do we deal with anger? We have to acknowledge we have it, and then release it in a healthy way. Letting all the energy out in a way that doesn't hurt anyway will unclog all your emotions.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A safe location. Somewhere you can scream and act out your anger and sadness.
• If you have an understanding person it can help. Alone is fine too.
• A pillow if you want to punch, or a towel to twist.

1. There are many causes of anger or sadness; bad parenting, abusive relationships, and so on. Try to trace it back to the roots, understand it, and try to give it a voice. This is vital.

2. Once you can put a voice to it, move on to the steps below. Remember you need to scream out all the words you’ve always wanted to say while you are doing it. Even if it’s just a string of vulgarities, do it!

3. Kneel on your bed like you're praying. Find a large pillow. Make a hammer fist with your hands. Not a boxing style fist, you might hurt your wrist. And pound the pillows, with all your might until you can’t go any more.

4. Sometimes twisting is better. Find a towel, and twist it like you are trying to wring out every last drop of water.

5. Sometimes just screaming is good enough. Go somewhere abandoned, with some loud music put on maximum and scream with your whole body. Become the yell. Yell until your whole body trembles.

6. Usually what follows the release of anger is sadness. Look for the next in the series for more on this.

Tips & Warnings

• You might feel weird and self-conscious doing this, it’s normal. Don’t give up. Just do it over and over again until you feel that all your repressed anger is gone. You'll know when this happens, instinctively. It might take weeks, it might take days, it’s different for everyone.
• If it is something that you cannot handle, please do not feel ashamed to seek out professional help. And avoid self-destruction; numbing of the pain with alcohol, drugs, or other risky behaviour. I went through a whole year of this and paid for this behaviour physically and emotionally for nearly a year after. And I’m one of the luckier ones.