Often, anxiety and anger symptoms go hand in hand. This lethal combination is brought about by too much stress and adrenaline.
When people feel anxious, their body is secreting stress hormones as well as adrenaline to help them prepare for “flight or fight mode”. This sets the body to an alert state to protect itself from threats and dangers. With stress hormones and adrenaline pumping the body up for action, anyone may get angry and can easily snap at people if anything gets in the way. A good example of anxiety and anger happening hand in hand is seen during the morning rush hour where people are late for work and are stuck in traffic.
Naturally, anger is a normal reaction that people develop in response to imminent danger. Being stuck in traffic is seen as a threat since the consequence of this is being late for work. However, unleashing this powerful temper is regarded in the society as an unacceptable way of coping with anxiety and stress.
Suppose that you recognize or at least concede the possibility that your problem with anxiety is related to the suppression of feelings of frustration, displeasure, or anger, what should you do about it? Throw a temper tantrum? Yell at people when they displease you? Become an angry, unpleasant, selfish person?
We are emphatically not advising you to create psychological stress for other people by acting in an aggressive or threatening manner. What we are telling you is that very few people who recover from anxiety conditions do so without accepting, understanding, and learning to express their negative feelings. Unfortunately, many people, largely through a lack of experience with assertiveness, tend to express their displeasure aggressively (threateningly), which more often than not provokes defensive responses and results in their own subsequent feelings of guilt. Such guilty feelings appear to confirm the idea that expressing anger does not work, so they go back to being passive and holding on to their anger. This is why assertiveness (which permits the nonthreatening expression of displeasure) is so vital to recovery. You need to learn how to express negative feelings occasionally without feeling guilty afterward. So, to respond in a more cool-headed manner towards anxiety-provoking situations, here are a few tips.
1. Express anger in the right way. Do not demand, just be more assertive. It is a method of saying what you want to say without humiliating the other person.
2. Take time before you react. Acting instantly out of anger can lead you to do things you will regret.
3. Breathe deeply. Taking those cleansing breaths can significantly reduce stress.
Anxiety and anger are harmful for your well-being. Luckily, finding better ways to let them out can ease both emotions.
