The Essence of Anger

Saikh Md. Sabah Al-Ahmed
Ever since the first Homo sapiens shakily trod the earth millions of years ago, heralding the modest beginnings of human life, human beings have hitherto been bracketed as “positive animals”, with a few mundane exceptions here and there, in direct conformity with them being already tagged as “social animals”, living in close cohesion and harmony with their fellow human beings. Human beings’ status of positive animals is directly proportional to those myriad positive emotions that naturally emanate from deep within them.

But just like the two sides of the same coin, human beings’ innate nature is also inextricably interwoven around certain glaringly dark, negative and evil tendencies such as anger, violence, jealously, avarice, hatred, revenge, lust, gluttony, sloth et al. Among these, the twin passions of anger and violence stand apart from the rest, for two singularly most important reasons. Firstly, both anger and violence are highly contagious in nature; more complimentary rather than being contradictory; more cyclical and rarely linear. Secondly, and most importantly, their resultant ramifications are not only balefully lacerating to the core, but also leave a perennial and profound impact not only on the hapless victim’s psyche but also on the entire fabric of humanity as a whole.
Essence of Anger
The true and real essence of anger can be attributed to a sheer travesty of sane and civilized human passions, a retarding human syndrome, a malaise of the human mind or even a paradigm shift, conceivably from the sober, serene and sublime passions to the headier and passionately invigorating ones. The essence of anger, therefore, lies in the personification of an impulsive and exaggerated passion. Anger may range from a minor irritation to an intense rage. Anger then automatically takes the shape of a pungent and predominant feeling amongst human beings, either behaviourally, cognitively or physiologically, when someone makes a conscious choice to act immediately to halt the threatening behaviour of another external force.

Contemporary psychologists opine that anger is a primary, natural and mature emotion experienced by all humans at times, and at the same time, has a purposeful functional value for survival as well. Anger can marshal psychological resources for remedial and corrective action. It has also been proved that the display of anger can be used as an effective manoeuvring strategy for social influence. Uncontrolled anger, however, can negatively impinge on the personal or social well-being. It abruptly unsettles the rational cerebral decorum of a sane human mind. Horace, the leading ancient Roman lyric poet during the reign of Emperor Augustus, in his famous seminal work Epistles opined that “anger is short madness.” Confucius, the ancient Chinese thinker and social philosopher, whose teachings and philosophy deeply influenced Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese thought and life, has also warned of the innate ramifications of anger in his famous lines, “When anger rises, think of the consequences.”
Anger Begets Violence
Anger is said to be the first cause of all violence. Contrarily, violence is an immediate and natural offshoot of anger. In fact, there is a very deep-rooted and analogous co-relation between the two. One may use phrases like “his violent anger” or “an angry and violent mob” to clearly vindicate this. Anger may result from a plethora of factors, disillusionment, dissatisfaction and even one’s unquenched mundane desires. Anger may range from mere verbal outbursts profusely laced with the use of expletives to resorting to actual physical abuse and bodily harm, thus putting at peril the life of the hapless victim.

Constructive Anger
There are certain glaring instances where the retarding and violent passion of anger may also possess certain constructive and positive attributes as well. It all finally boils down as to how anger is properly and effectively displayed for the ultimate realization of certain “just ends and motives” through “proper ways and means”. Here one comes across instances where anger takes a much muted form. A silent voice in the form of a dharna, hartal, gherao, bandh, hunger strike, candle-lit protest, refraining from one’s daily work, classes and job, wearing of black arm bands in protest and even a social boycott to ostracize someone are also some of the ways and means of venting one’s anger against anything that one is disillusioned or dissatisfied with. Consequently, though much muted and muffled modes, both in form and actual implementation, these are also a direct outcome of one’s anger. One may also vent his anger by writing against certain prevalent ills or wrongs of the society like corruption, dowry, untouchability et al by highlighting them through the power of the pen. Writers whose views leave a lasting and indelible impact on the minds of the readers, in turn, help in generating and moulding public opinion against these very ills. Spiritual anger is another uniquely muted form of anger, where one resorts to a malevolent appeal to a supernatural being, in the hope that certain unfavourable, inauspicious, ominous and evil omen may befall somebody or something.
Suppression of Anger

Contemporary psychologists, in sharp contrast to their predecessors, have pointed out the possible detrimental effects of suppression of anger. While the early philosophers were oblivious of the possible detrimental effects of the suppression of anger, modern psychologists, however, point out that suppression of anger may have harmful effects. The suppressed anger may find another alternative outlet, such as a physical symptom, or even become more extreme.
Dr. John Wesley Fiero, a former Professor of English at University of Louisiana at Lafayette, cites the infamous Los Angeles riots of 1992 or the Rodney King uprising, which were the immediate ramification of the acquittal of four guilty Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers by a prejudiced jury, accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist and African-American taxi driver Rodney Glen King on March 3, 1991, following a high-speed pursuit, as an apt instance of sudden and explosive release of suppressed anger. Another example cited by Professor Fiero of extensive deflection of anger from its legitimate cause towards a hapless scapegoat was the blaming of Jews for the economic ills of Germany, perpetrated by the Nazis.
Anger Management

Just as the mahout tames the rogue elephant or the ringmaster tames the ferocious tiger in a circus, anger too needs to be properly tamed or controlled. The term “anger management” commonly refers to a system of psychological therapeutic techniques and exercises by which someone with excessive or uncontrollable anger can control or reduce the triggers, degrees and effects of an angered emotional state. In some countries, courses in anger management are mandated by their legal system. Typical anger management techniques are the use of deep breathing and meditation as a means of relaxation. Other interventions include learning empathy, stress management skills, forgiveness, changing how you speak about yourself or others, and improving optimism. As the issue of anger varies from person to person, the treatments are designed to be personal to the individual.
The fact remains that anger must be managed. source: the sentinel assam