It is very evident from our previous articles, where we discussed the various anger management techniques in children as well as adolescents, that the expression for the same varies among age groups, it is more active in nature. While in older adults along with active expression there can be other varieties of anger that they experience outside the normal emotional scope, such as chronic anger, passive anger, overwhelmed anger, self-inflicted anger, judgmental anger or volatile anger.
Older adults’ express outward anger less often and report more inner control of anger using calming strategies when compared to their younger counterparts. Mostly, passive in nature thus, their anger is not easily observable and displayed as sarcasm, apathy, bullying or meanness. They also participate in self-defeating behaviours such as missing work, alienating with friends and family, performing poorly on social and professional grounds (L.H. Phillips, J.D. Henry, J.A. Hoise & A.B. Milne, 2005).
The causes that contribute to the formation of anger in adults are mostly from external sources such as financial issues, emotional abuse, poor social and familial situations, disrupted romantic relationships, lack of social support, decreased communication with people, increased work demand requiring an overwhelming amount of one’s time and energy. Internal sources such as perceived failure or injustices can also contribute to developing anger responses in people (L.J. Levine, 1995). A persons’ genetic composition with their body’s ability to deal with certain chemicals and hormones also play a role in dealing with anger (B. Torestad, 1990).
Adults express their anger in either a healthy manner or in an unhealthy manner. Healthy expression of anger includes being assertive, which necessarily helps the individual move forward towards what benefits them along with stronger interpersonal relationships; while unhealthy expression of anger includes being aggressive, passive-aggressive and suppressive. The negative expression tends to be destructive and threatens the person themselves or others around them. The goal of anger management is to move the person from the unhealthy expression of anger into healthy communication.
Anger management issues can lead to emotional and physical effects, so understanding the varied symptoms for the same is necessary. Emotional symptoms of anger can be understood by a constant state of irritability, rage and anxiety. This can lead to people feeling overwhelmed most of the time and facing difficulty in organizing and managing their thought patterns. Physical symptoms of anger can be understood by tingling sensation, palpitation, feeling tightness in the chest, increased blood pressure, headaches and feeling fatigued most of the time. Unresolved anger can lead to muscle tensions, problems with concentration and memory, chronic sleep disorder, disrupted relationships.
Mental health-related problems associated with anger include anxiety disorder, depression along with drug dependence, alcohol addiction, an overdose of medications and associated withdrawal symptoms.
Few ways of understanding anger, for its effective management includes:
Learning to recognize the relationship that exists between the emotions of anger, rage, fear, pain, and love. Also learning to identify the vast differences between the actions that are motivated by fear and the actions that are motivated by love. People should also develop the understanding that having courage is a result of the anger-love connection. Lastly, it is very important to begin to consider how anger shows up when it is felt and expressed in conjunction with love.
The anger management techniques in adults include:
- Relaxation techniques like progressive muscle relaxation, yoga, guided imagery helping one with releasing hormones in the body and having better control oneself
- Adults should also aim to maintain a healthy work-life balance, as it is one of the potential sources of anger in older adults.
- Cognitive behavioural therapy as it helps us to identify and understand our trigger points for better handling the consequences for the same (A. Nocentini, C. Pastorelli & E. Menesini, 2013).
- Cognitive behavioural anger control skills training
- Anger Management Therapy whose common strategies are controlling one’s impulse, increased self-awareness, meditation, breathing techniques, personal reflection and emotional awareness.
- Adults can also turn to take help of pharmacotherapy with supportive psychotherapy. (R. DiGiuseppe & R.C. Tafrate, 2003).
Therefore, the age differences in anger expression are not explained by variance in social desirability of responding. Since, in several studies, age improvements in negative affect and anxiety were partly explained by age differences in anger regulation suggesting an important role for anger management in good mental health amongst older adults. Further, age improvements in quality of life were explained by variance in anger regulation indicating that improved management of emotions with age is an important factor in maintaining well-being in old age.
– Urveez Kakalia and Annesha Datta.