9 Habits Of Angry People Who Hide Their Rage Beneath The Surface, Says Psychology
Not all anger looks explosive.
RDNE Stock Project | Canva Have you ever thought, “Do I have anger issues?” Yes? Well, you wouldn’t be alone. Nearly 1 in 10 Americans deal with varying levels of anger issues. Anger is a natural emotion everyone feels and experiences.
Clinical hypnotherapist and spiritual life coach Keya Murthy says, “Anger is a common surface-level emotion, more in some and less in others. It is not a mental disorder. It is part of human life. Anger shows up in the forms of frustrations, disappointments, and resentments.” But things get serious when you have trouble controlling your anger.
A study conducted in 2010 actually proved that anger issues can lead to significant health risks like coronary heart disease. Anger can make us say and do things we normally wouldn’t do, so learning your triggers and figuring out how to manage them can help significantly. The obvious signs and symptoms include irritability and frustration, but below are other signs of anger issues that many may not have thought about.
Here are 9 habits of angry people who hide their rage beneath the surface:
1. They have a fight-or-flight response to mot things
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Increased blood pressure and heart rate are the physiological responses to the fight-or-flight response triggered by anger. This response elevates your heart rate and increases your blood pressure due to adrenaline.
These changes are a direct result of the brain's response to the emotional stimulus of anger, which primes the body to either confront or escape the situation. Regarding the long-term implications, one study explained that chronic anger and the repeated activation of the fight-or-flight response can impair blood vessel function, leading to the hardening of arteries.
2. They feel guilty
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A person can experience guilt when dealing with anger issues. They may feel guilty for how they reacted or whenever they have an explosive episode.
It’s important to note that people with anger issues don’t want to hurt others, and when they do, they feel guilty. This may then turn into an inward hatred, leading to more anger issues — a vicious cycle.
“No child is born angry. This is something they picked up and mastered over time, either through nature or nurture," Murthy says. "Nothing is forever. If a person learned to use anger to go through life, they can unlearn to be angry and replace it with another positive emotion to achieve similar success without hurting themselves or others.”
3. They feel tense all the time
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When you are angry, your muscles automatically tense up because of the adrenaline that rushes through your body. For people with anger problems, muscle tension often occurs.
When angered, the adrenal glands flood the body with stress hormones, which redirect blood to muscles, increasing their readiness for physical action to confront a perceived threat. Research has found that this physiological preparation is an ancient survival mechanism that, while useful in dangerous situations, can also lead to chronic tension and health issues when the stressor is non-life-threatening.
Being physical has been shown to improve your mental and emotional state. Exercising releases endorphins and relieves stress, which could have been the cause of your anger issues to begin with. Next time you feel anger begin to build, go for a run or take a trip to the gym.
4. They have chronic anxiety
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Anxiety is a symptom of anger issues because people who live with them are constantly on edge. This is because they are trying to control their anger with no success.
When the brain misinterprets a situation as dangerous due to chronic anxiety, the resulting physiological arousal can manifest as anger as the body prepares to confront the perceived threat. Research has found that this includes a defensive reaction in which the body is primed for confrontation, which can also manifest as anger and aggression.
People with anger issues are usually quick to react to the situation. Therefore, when you start to feel like you are getting angry, take a beat and think about how you are feeling and why before you say anything.
Then, once you feel calm enough, try to express your feelings effectively and constructively, sticking to "I" statements.
5. They feel overwhelmed
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A feeling of overwhelm might occur with anger issues because of all the emotions boiling up inside that cannot be controlled. This makes it harder to cope when life throws unexpected things at you, causing outbreaks of anger.
When anger, fear, or stress continuously trigger this physiological state, the body remains in a prolonged state of hyperarousal, making it difficult to manage multiple demands and leading to a persistent sense of being overwhelmed. A 2015 study suggested that the body's response to ongoing anger can overwhelm its capacity to regulate, creating a loop where a constant state of alert prevents a return to a balanced state.
6. They feel like they could explode at any minute
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If you just always feel like you could explode with rage at the drop of a hat, you may have anger issues. It's not normal to always feel mad about something. It causes you to resent things, making you a very miserable camper.
Murthy advises people to drink water to prevent angry thoughts from arising. “When you feel anger creep up, stand up and sway your body, and go for that drink of plain water,” Murthy suggests. “Physical shifting of your position gets another part of your brain to wake up, thereby diffusing your anger."
7. They break things
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Filled with rage and uncontrollable emotions, you may often break things in your surrounding environment. Obviously, breaking things out of anger is not the best way to quell those feelings; in fact, it's a huge red flag to others to steer clear.
Murthy encourages those with anger issues to use the counting method. “When you have an angry response percolating within you, start counting your breath in your mind. Count from one to ten, and before you reach seven, you might find you are not as angry as you thought would be," she explains. "Finish counting to ten. If needed, after you reach ten, count backward from ten to one mindfully, and this usually dissolves all anger.”
8. They're set off by small things
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If the tiniest of things turns you into a ball of rage, there are major underlying issues. Being easily irritated is exhausting, which just makes things worse. You shouldn't be erupting just because you stubbed your toe or someone didn't pick up the phone.
Common causes of anger include stress, family, or financial issues, but the true cause is usually an underlying mental health condition. Though anger isn’t a mental health disorder, it most certainly could be a symptom of one.
9. They blame others
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Those with anger issues will often not take responsibility for their mistakes. They shift the blame onto others and are angry about the whole situation, refusing to budge and see their part in feeling this way.
Research showed that people with poor emotional regulation skills are more likely to blame others when experiencing negative emotions like anger. By assigning fault, a person can justify their emotional outburst, avoid feelings of shame or guilt, and gain a sense of control over a difficult situation.
Controlling anger can be hard, but with some changes, it becomes more manageable. Salt has been linked to increased feelings of depression, so it goes without saying that removing salt from your diet may aid in reducing signs of anger issues.
“If you have anger issues, reduce salty food from your diet. You need sweetness in your life. You do not need to eat a lot of sugar to reduce anger; you just need to notice how you reach out for salty food and remove it from your diet,” Murthy says.
“If you eat only home-cooked meals, don’t salt your food, just add a lot of greens to your diet, and some lemon juice, which adds natural salts to your diet. There are salt-free seasonings that add a lot of flavor to your food without the salt, which increases anger and rage," she suggests.
Deauna Roane is a writer and the Editorial Project Manager for YourTango. She's had bylines in Emerson College's literary magazine, Generic, and MSN.
