The relationship between anger and addiction has encouraged people and their loved ones suffering from substance abuse and mental illness to seek help. At Next Step Foundation, anger management therapy has played a vital role in helping individuals with these conditions take back control of their lives.
Physical health
High levels of anger and stress make you more physically ill and susceptible to diseases. Therefore, if individuals do not learn to cope with their stressors and anger in healthy ways, they become at risk for many physical and psychological complications including:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Substance abuse
- Digestive problems
- Headaches
- Heart disease
- Sleep problems such as insomnia
- Weight gain
- Memory loss and concentration issues
How anger affects your brain and body
When a person becomes angry, the hypothalamus at the base of the brain becomes activated and sends a signal to the adrenal glands at the top of the kidneys to release stress hormones known as cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline. As cortisol decreases, the left hemisphere of the brain becomes more and more stimulated.
In other words, feelings of rage and anger increase heart rate, elevates blood pressure, and boots energy. Cortisol, the hormone responsible for stress, increases blood sugars (glucose) in the bloodstream and brain and increases the number of substances used to repair tissues.
Three types of anger
There are three types of anger that people experience when the amygdala in the brain becomes activated. They are as follows:
- Passive Aggression: Most people when they become angry do not like to admit it, because they like to avoid confrontation. Therefore, they pretend they’re fine, yet do subtle things to show they aren’t. This is called being passive. As the word indicates, passive-aggressiveness is engaging in subtle acts of anger and hostility in indirect ways.
- Open Aggression: When someone becomes physically and/or verbally aggressive they often lash out, yell, bully, accuse, and blackmail others where they also end up hurting themselves.
- Assertive Anger: This type of anger is seen more in a positive light. Being assertive means giving people the ability to resolve conflict in a more productive way that is more respectful for everyone involved. Assertive anger is the middle ground, where when talking about a situation that has caused disharmony is done in a manner that does not intentionally hurt other people’s feelings.
Symptoms of anger
It is important that people understand symptoms of anger below to effectively get treatment.
- Knots in your stomach
- Clenching your hands or jaw
- Feeling clammy or flushed
- Breathing faster
- Headaches
- Pacing or needing to walk around.
- Having trouble focusing
- Pounding heart rate
- Tense muscles
How anger is related to substance abuse and can hinder recovery
Most people don’t realize that anger and substance abuse often go hand in hand. This is known as co-occurring disorders or a dual diagnosis. It is a fact that people who struggle with anger management problems are more prone to substance abuse issues. Drugs and alcohol are their support system to help cope with their problems, which most of the time makes their anger worse.
Anger is not a harmless emotion; it can be lethal. People who are more susceptible to becoming angry are more likely to abuse substances such as drugs and alcohol to cope with symptoms. When chronic anger occurs, it stresses and damages the body.
Anger drives people to drink or take drugs in the first place. Doing so, which not only ruins relationships but also causes low self-esteem, as well as a slew of other emotions such as shame, guilt, blame, despair, and fear. All of these can lead to anger or further aggravating pre-existing frustrations.
How anger management therapy at Next Step Foundation can help
Having addiction and/or mental illness no doubt makes a person feel angry and hopeless. At Next Step Foundation, we offer anger management counseling sessions to help and teach our patients measures to manage their anger and avoid relapse.
Our team of highly trained specialists at Next Step Foundation use the evidence-based method of anger management therapy to help people learn to control their anger and emotions effectively, and as a result, have seen success in improving their overall quality of life.
To learn more about anger management therapy techniques, and how it can help you or a loved one, contact us today!
