Everyone feels anger at some point or another. Anger occurs when you feel frustrated, disappointed, or mistreated. A person who harbors anger, or has too much anger, can get many undesirable physical, emotional, and social consequences. For someone in recovery, anger can lead to relapse.
Anger can be rational or irrational. If one feels they have been harmed or mistreated, they may feel anger in return. However, there will be other people who may use anger as a form of manipulation.
People may feel irrational anger due to the following factors:
- Having unrealistic expectations about other people or situations
- Comparing oneself to others and feeling either superior or inferior
- Misinterpreting someone else’s actions or words
- Having preconceived notions of other people’s intentions
- Feeling threatened or disrespected by another person
For anyone, the undesirable effects of anger can lead to:
- alienating friends, family or other people
- destroy relationships
- loss of employment
- problems with school
- restlessness
- insomnia
- fatigue
- risk of heart disease
- violence or becoming a victim of violence
- commit an illegal or criminal act
- turning to drugs, alcohol, or other compulsion for escape
What If You Are In Recovery?
If you are someone in recovery, you may be on an emotional rollercoaster that includes anger as one of the most prevalent emotions. Now that you don’t have your substances or other addictions to numb out the pain, you can feel your emotions in full blast. At times, you may even find yourself suddenly getting emotional or sensitive. And when it comes to anger, you may become easily triggered at the slightest provocation.
Come to think of it, your inability to deal with emotions that include anger may just be the reason why you addicted in the first place. And when you are in recovery, you may see relapsing as a way to vent out your frustration, or punish the person you are angry with.
But here is how you deal with anger in recovery:
- manage your emotions by being mindful of your own emotions
- meditate
- leave the room or detach yourself from the situation
- stand back and allow yourself to look at things from a bigger perspective
- go for a walk or do something you love to do, like a hobby
- concentrate on your breathing and count to ten before you let yourself burst
- talk to your counselor or friend
- relive the coping strategies and other lessons you’ve learned during treatment
Anger is normal but it is how you deal with it that determines your mettle.
If you need to talk to someone about your anger or about coping while in recovery, text or call:
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