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Andrew Reid

Dr. Adrienne Cassel

English 1201

5 August 2021

Why Is Anger Such a Powerful Emotion That Affects Everyone Differently?

Anger is an emotion that people have experienced at least once in their lifetime. A lot of

people have either seen or experienced someone getting angry before. But why do people get this

way? What makes them express themselves in such a way? Anger can be expressed in many

ways. This emotion also varies in the severity of it just like many other emotions. Some may

experience just a little bit of anger, while others may experience a big rush of it. People have

been experiencing anger since the beginning of time. Anger is a powerful emotion due to

different levels of hormones being released throughout the body when someone gets angry; it can

also lead to many different side effects if not handled appropriately which could potentially be

deadly.

Anger can be experienced by anyone at any time. The American Psychological

Association defines anger as an emotion that is generally expressed with antagonism towards

someone or something that has deliberately done you wrong (“Anger and Aggression”). There

are both good and bad kinds of anger. An example of a good type of anger would be if someone

were to briefly get angry about something but that then leads them to find a solution to their

problem. As well, an example of a bad type of anger would be if someone gets angry all the time

as to where they are experiencing an increase in blood pressure or any other physical changes

due to feeling angry.

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Suppressing one’s anger can have a variety of different effects on the human body. What

does it mean to suppress one’s anger? It is when someone gets angry and they know that they are

angry, but they choose not to express their anger. Mainly, these effects are going to lead to health

problems if the anger becomes chronic. Not only mental problems may arise, but also physical

health problems as well. Experiencing chronic anger has been linked to depression and anxiety

(Foltz-Gray). Not only that, but anger has also been linked to cardiac problems, headaches,

irritable bowel syndrome, and high blood pressure (“Anger – How It Affects People”). All of

which are major medical problems. A Wisconsin epidemiologist, Elaine D. Eaker, also found that

suppressing one’s anger can also be deadly. She found that spouses who suppressed their anger

were 4 times more likely to die of all causes during their 10-year follow-up (Foltz-Gray).

There is nothing that can make a person angry (“How Anger Affects Your Brain & Body).

There is not a specific person or thing that can cause someone else to get angry. Instead, people

allow themselves to get angry. In a way, people could say that things can influence someone’s

anger, but overall do not make someone angry. So, what happens when someone allows

themselves to get angry? Well, their body releases stress hormones. The 3 main stress hormones

are adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol. These hormones all act to increase the heart rate,

blood pressure, body temperature, and breathing rate. These are also known as fight or flight

hormones (Anger – How It Affects People”). In a way, they give people a big boost of energy

that allows all their body to work at its max capacity for however long it needs. It is when these

hormones build up in the body that it turns into a problem. This is when medical professionals

start to see health concerns that could potentially lead to death if not handled correctly (Foltz-

Gray). Depending on how angry someone is, determines how much of a certain hormone is
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released. If someone isn’t too angry, they would not have a lot of stress hormones pumping

through their blood vessels versus someone that might be angry (Foltz-Gray).

Anger is an emotion that is experienced differently by different people, just like any other

emotion (“Chronic Stress Puts Your Health at Risk). Everyone has their own way of expressing

anger. Depending on the severity of anger someone is feeling can also influence how they react.

So, the question is when does someone experience anger? There are 5 times when someone can

allow themselves to get angry. Those include if the person feels threatened, vulnerable,

exposed/shamed/victimized, violated, or unable to meet important needs (“Why Am I so

Angry?”). It is okay to feel angry and just feeling angry alone does not affect people. It is how

people cope with the anger that affects their bodies. There are 4 different types of anger as well.

There is aggressive, passive/aggressive, passive, and assertive (“Why Am I so Angry?”). All of

which is how someone responds to anger. Everyone has at least one type of anger style that they

are most likely to use. But then again, it all depends on the circumstance that they are in.
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Fig. 1. This diagram shows the 4 different levels of anger that someone can experience ranging

from healthy to extreme.

One important factor to consider about anger is managing it. If anger is not managed

appropriately, it can lead to a slew of different outcomes. Suppressing one’s anger and not

managing it correctly, can be harmful and damaging to the human body. As well, it can affect

someone’s interpersonal relationship with someone and their own psychological well-being

(Anger and Why It’s a Problem). Why would something like this happen to someone who holds

in their anger? Well, by holding in one’s anger and the anger not being resolved, it can leave

someone feeling emotionally aroused. Which in turn, can leave someone feeling chronically

helpless and hopeless (“Anger and Why It’s a Problem”).

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Nowadays, people are surrounded by anger everywhere they go throughout their daily

lives. A lot of Americans are angry. A survey that was conducted in 2018 showed that anger was

at a higher rate than in previous years. It showed that 22% of Americans felt angrier than from

the previous year. That went up 17%. Not to mention that in 2020, the Covid-19 crisis caused an

increase in stress, worry, and anger among Americans (Chang). Americans were also feeling

more anxious and depressed, just like some people might have during this pandemic. Both

anxiety and depression can cause anger to arouse. Throughout the pandemic, people saw a lot of

anger. This was an understandable emotion to have at that time. Most people during this time

were in a state of uncertainty (Chang). People wanted to cope with this uncertainty. One of the

main ways people did this was by resolving it with anger. Anger gave the people a sense of

certainty, clarity, and confidence (Chang). Therefore, most people resorted to anger when they

felt uncertain. But by doing this and turning to anger as a solution, led to many other problems.

Although anger is an inevitable emotion, it can become a problem when someone experiences

anger chronically. Therefore, most people like to try to either prevent or manage their anger with

different techniques.

How can someone manage anger effectively? There are two main points to consider when

someone is trying and wants to help manage their anger effectively. One of those points being to

not make it worse by words or actions (Kashdan). Before anyone says or does anything, take a

second and take a breath. People do not want to say or do anything that could potentially make

them angrier in any way. Also, by doing this, they are telling their brain to take a second and

think. The second point is to respond rather than react (Kashdan). Anger is a reaction to

something (Chang). By instead responding, rather than reacting, they are helping to decrease the

stimulus that is propelling the anger within them.

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Not only can anger be managed, but it can also be prevented (Kashdan). Think of anger

management as a tool kit, where someone can use different tools in different situations. The same

goes for managing anger, someone would use different tools in different situations. Different

tools may work for some people, while other tools may not work for some people. It all just

depends on the type of person and the situation they are in. It is also like when a doctor

prescribes medicine to a patient. The University of California, Berkeley, provided the following

list of tools that are helpful in managing and preventing anger; “effective stress reduction and

stress management, focusing on the areas in which one has control, standing up for oneself in a

firm, but respectful way, setting appropriate limits and boundaries, knowing when to let go,

confronting when appropriate and safe, avoiding when appropriate, humor, physical exercise,

increasing life mastery and satisfaction, building on one’s strengths to address life challenges,

realistic expectation of ourselves and others, emotional and psychological healing, exploring

different perspectives as opposed to ‘tunnel vision’ or rigid thinking, and not personalizing

situations and adopting a problem-solving stance instead.” (Kashdan) These are just some of the

tools that can be utilized when someone is trying to deal with anger or prevent anger before it

happens.

There is a difference between anger and aggression. People tend to interchange these two

different words when they talk about anger. But in fact, they have two different meanings. Anger

is an emotion that one feels when they believe that someone has done them wrong on purpose.

While aggression is a reaction or action that people take when they feel angry (Why Am I so

Angry?”). But the thing is, not everyone takes the aggressive step when they are angry. Vice

versa, not everyone that is aggressive is angry. They are two totally different words that should
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not be interchanged when talking about anger. This just goes to show that anger can lead people

to do other things that they might not have if they were not angry.

A survey was conducted by the Mental Health Foundation and found that 32% of people

knew someone close to them that had trouble controlling their anger. Out of that 32%, 28% of

those people said that they worry about how angry they sometimes feel. Anger management is a

key factor when trying to lower the statistic of how many people are angry. Worse yet, 58% of

people said that they did not know where to seek help (“Why Am I so Angry?”). This is a major

problem for people who want to seek help in controlling their anger but do not know how to or

where to find help. If people want to help others control their anger and are willing to help, it

would be beneficial to those who need the help to know where to get it. So, in a sense, more

advertising and commercials about anger management would be beneficial so when the time

comes and someone is looking for help, they know where to call, where to go, or whom to get

help from.

Along with anger comes the risk for many potential long-term and short-term health-

related problems. The following are just some of the most common types of side effects and

health problems that can come along with anger, headache, digestion problems, insomnia,

increased anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, skin problems, heart attack, and stroke

(“Anger – How It Affects People”). How does someone getting angry influence all these other

potential problems that can happen within my body? Well, when someone gets angry, they

release stress chemicals that flow throughout the body. With a constant flow of these stress

chemicals, if someone has chronic anger, can lead to certain metabolic changes within the body.

These metabolic changes can affect how the body functions and can also affect many different

systems within the body (“Anger – How It Affects People”).

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So how exactly do stress hormones affect the body? As stated above, there are three stress

hormones that are released in the body when someone gets angry. They are adrenaline,

noradrenaline, and cortisol. Adrenaline and cortisol being the main two hormones released.

These hormones are triggered to be released by the hypothalamus in the brain. The hypothalamus

is a tiny region at the brain’s base. This signal by the hypothalamus is then sent through nerves

and hormonal signals all the way to the body’s adrenal glands, which are located above the

kidneys. Then these adrenal glands are then told to release both adrenaline and cortisol. Each

hormone has its own purpose within the body (“Chronic Stress Puts Your Health at Risk”).

Adrenaline acts to increase someone’s heart rate, elevate their blood pressure, as well as boost

their energy level higher than it was before. This is the hormone that makes someone’s body act

quickly. It does this by stimulating its body to make glucose or sugar. This sugar can then be

used by their body to provide it with energy. So, when someone gets angry, adrenaline is released

quickly to the body which is also known as an adrenaline rush. Cortisol is another hormone that

is released by the body when someone is experiencing anger. Cortisol’s main purpose is to curb

functions of the body that would not be essential or potentially even harmful during a fight-or-

flight situation. Cortisol shuts down some of the body’s functions when released. The three main

systems that cortisol affects are the immune system, the digestive system, and the reproductive

system (“Anger – How It Affects People”). This acts to give the body more energy and preserve

its energy by not wasting it on non-essential body functions during this type of situation.

The body has its own fight-or-flight response that can be utilized in many different

situations. Someone’s fight-or-flight response is their body’s natural self-defense response. This

is controlled by their sympathetic nervous system. This was “designed” to help someone survive

a stressful or life-threatening situation or any other dangerous situation. This response is

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triggered by the release of stress hormones (What Happens to Your Body During the Fight or

Flight Response?”). Someone then has two options in this stressful situation, they can either run

from the situation or they can stay and fight the stimulus. During this time, their whole body, and

all the systems within it, are working together to keep them alive in any way that it can (What

Happens to Your Body During the Fight or Flight Response?”).

But just like any other thing, their fight-or-flight response can also work against them.

Sometimes their body can receive false-positive signals (What Happens to Your Body During the

Fight or Flight Response?”). This means that their body might think there is a life-threatening

emergency when there isn’t. This can often happen when someone must give a big presentation,

when they are trying to make a deadline, or they are simply thinking about a phobia. These

things can often trigger someone’s stress response tricking their body into thinking that they are

in danger.

So how are people able to take control of their bodies' fight-or-flight response when it

receives a false positive? First of all, it is important to be able to handle one’s stress. Because

stressing about something too much can be unhealthy for their body due to all the hormonal and

chemical imbalances when someone becomes stressed (What Happens to Your Body During the

Fight or Flight Response?”). When someone feels stressed, take a minute. It is best if they slow

down and think about what they are doing. Think before they speak or act. By doing this and

taking a breath, they are allowing their brain to process what exactly is happening or going on

around them.

The problem in society is not anger. Anger is just a byproduct of society (Kashdan). But

that is not the problem neither, nor is anger. The problem is how people handle anger. People are

not the problem. What the actual problem is, is that people allow themselves to get angry, and
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when they do not know how to control, manage, or prevent their anger. Anger can be a beneficial

emotion if used properly and at the right time. In fact, anger can be used to bring people together

instead of separating them. When most people get angry, they like to act on that anger as soon as

it happens. But that might not be the best course of action. The best thing to do in any angry

situation is to leave the stimulating area so that they can calm down (“Anger and Why It’s a

Problem”). The healthiest way to deal with anger is to be respectful to one another. Respect the

boundaries that the other person has in place. They should try to remain as calm as possible to

promote the best outcome possible.

Anger is neither good nor bad. It is how someone responds to anger that makes it good or

bad. Anger is just an emotion. Just like happiness, sadness, and fear. They are all just emotions.

Emotions can all be handled differently. That is the difficult part for a lot of people, handling

their emotions. Trying to figure out what to do with anger is hard for a lot of people. This is also

the breaking point in a lot of relationships. It is at this moment where people can either have a

good type of anger or a bad type of anger. This is especially important in relationships. A lot of

relationships have trouble with controlling their anger or they just flat out don’t know how to

deal with it (Kashdan). That is why there are counselors in place to help with these kinds of

situations. So then again, it is not people or anger that is the problem. It is how that anger is dealt

with which is the problem. A lot of people don’t think of it this way which is also a cause of the

problem.

Not managing chronic anger can even alter someone’s judgment (“The Dangers of

Uncontrolled Anger When Managing Chronic Pain”). Even if it is nonchronic anger and just

short-term, it can still influence someone’s sense of judgment. This is primarily because when

someone gets angry, they are most likely not thinking clearly. This is since they have probably
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engaged their fight-or-flight response which is causing their brain to primarily focus on keeping

them alive at all costs. As well, due to this mental state, they might not be thinking clearly and

may make rash decisions that they could possibly regret later.

Anger is an emotion that can have a variety of different side effects if not handled

appropriately due to the three stress hormones released when someone gets angry, adrenaline,

noradrenaline, and cortisol. The main two hormones that affected the body were adrenaline and

cortisol. Both hormones activate the fight-or-flight response. Sometimes someone’s body can

receive false positives when activating their body’s natural response which can, in turn, have a

negative effect on their body. As well, chronic anger can lead to a variety of different health

concerns that could even potentially be deadly. Everyone can react, prevent, and manage pain

and they can all do this differently. Anger can be managed but it is up to the individual on how

they want to handle it, or even if they want to. People allow themselves to get angry, anger itself

can’t affect the person. It is how the person acts on the emotion that affects them.

Works Cited

“Anger - How It Affects People.” Anger - How It Affects People - Better Health Channel,

www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/anger-how-it-affects-people. Accessed

18 July. 2021.

“Anger and Aggression.” American Psychological Association, American Psychological

Association, www.apa.org/topics/anger/. Accessed 18 July. 2021.

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“Anger and Why It's a Problem.” Mental Help Anger and Why Its a Problem Comments,

www.mentalhelp.net/anger/why-its-a-problem/. Accessed 18 July. 2021.

“Anger Management Assessment.” Anger Management Resource,

www.angermanagementresource.com/anger-management-assessment.html. Accessed 20

July. 2021.

Chang, Elizabeth. “Americans are living in a big ‘anger incubator’ Experts have tips for

regulating our rage.” Washington Post, 30 June 2020. Gale In Context: Opposing

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“Chronic Stress Puts Your Health at Risk.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical

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%20heart%20rate,of%20substances%20that%20repair%20tissues. Accessed 18 July. 2021.

Foltz-Gray, Dorothy. “Suppressed Anger Leads to Health Problems.” Anger Management, edited

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July. 2021. Originally published as “Go Ahead...Get Mad: Learning How to Express Rage

Can Protect Your Heart, Mind, and Health. Here’s the Right Way to Do It,” Prevention,

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“How Anger Affects Your Brain & Body.” Youtube, YouTube, 4 Sept. 2020,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTDFuP4j9qo. Accessed 18 July. 2021.

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Chronic Conditions, 17 Apr. 2019, www.hvrxsolutions.com/the-dangers-of-uncontrolled-

anger-when-managing-chronic-pain/. Accessed 18 July. 2021.

Todd B. Kashdan, et al. “The Right Way to Get Angry.” Greater Good,

greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/the_right_way_to_get_angry. Accessed 18 July.

2021.

“What Happens to Your Body During the Fight or Flight Response?” Health Essentials from

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response/. Accessed 18 July. 2021.

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1. Numbers should be spelled out unless they are taken from a direct quote.
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