Racism, sexism and all the various other “hate these people” isms and phobias are arguably methods for expressing and rationalizing anger. And they’re bad. But what’s a good way?
Racism, sexism and all the various other “hate these people” isms and phobias are arguably methods for expressing and rationalizing anger. And they’re bad. But what’s a good way?
Once a therapist told me that a lot of the time anger is a secondary emotion; that is, it’s an emotion that comes out of another emotion.
So you don’t necessarily get angry out of nothing, but you get angry because you’re scared, or disappointed, or you feel wronged, or something else.
So their recommendation was to identify the emotion that’s making you angry, and express/rationalize that instead.
I get angry because of frustration about things beyond my control that impact me negatively and can’t simply be ignored. Knowing that extra step is great and all, but doesn’t reduce the frustration or the anger. I’m sure that identifying the difference is helpful to some people who can ignore or address the actual cause of their anger.
Note: I don’t get angry about frustrating things that I can do something about, or can be ignored.
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As a teen, I would consciously turn hurt into hate to avoid it. I was emotionally aware enough to know that I was running from it, but not emotionally aware enough to confront it. Therapy works, folks.
Agreed. Say, past trauma. Leading to anxiety, anger and etc.
I don’t put much hope rational analysis.
Maybe solitude and meditation. Maybe a month in the forest with friends and a big bag of shrooms.
Excuse me, but sometimes, I just want to be angry and not “rationalize the causes of my anger”. I think it’s fully okay to be pissed about something and wanting to vocalize your anger without immediately neutering it by “expressing” the thing that made you angry instead. I would even say that trying to extinguish your emotions constantly will cause you to explode like a pressure cooker one day. You are just invalidating your own emotional reaction. Same thing applies when someone hurts me. You hurt me, goddamn it, I am gonna tell you why I got hurt, but most importantly, I am going to express how much I got hurt.
So if someone you love tells you if you want to have good job prospects you shouldn’t get a face tattoo, it’s okay to get angry at them right away because they hurt your feelings?
I think the point here is people get angry at stuff all the time that they shouldn’t be angry at. Helpful advice, someone pulling in front of them in traffic, online comments disagreeing with them, etc. it’s good to make sure you understand why you’re angry, or else you’re just blind.
A lot of people might be angry about the face tattoo comment, and leave it at “the other person is being mean / closed minded”, then proceed to go and get one, then continue to be angry the rest of their lives when they can’t get a job.
Reflecting on things in general, especially emotion, means you grow. It’s self education.
Usually it’s my own stupidity, clumsiness, dumb decisions, or ignorance, and knowing that just makes me more angry :/
And it’s good to recognize that! It means now you know to work on self-compassion (which is really hard but really worth doing)