The 10 Benefits and 10 Consequences of Anger

So when I told my wife I was going to talk about anger as a positive thing, she thought I was crazy. She's like, good luck with that. But how can a negative emotion be a positive thing? Well, I'm going to explain how. So let's take a deep look at anger as an example where a negative emotion could be a positive thing, right? It could be a resourceful emotion. Anger means that we're not getting our way or that somebody has violated us in some way, either physically or challenges a belief that we have, or just something else that is blocking us from getting our way. Anger clearly can have many negative consequences when acted on out inappropriately in reaction to some trigger. There are many reasons for that. Usually there's a misinterpretation of the trigger itself or the reaction is disproportionate to the situation. That said, we should also keep in mind that the emotion of anger, like all emotions, all negative emotions, was provided to us as a guidance system and a tool to utilize for a biologically primary purpose, which is survival, and can now be used to get us on the track to happiness and fulfillment. So what good can getting angry serve, right? Number one, it promotes survival. That's an easy one. That's clearly its purpose in the first place. This is the fight or flight response, right? Anger gives us the energy to put up a good fight when our survival's at stake. We need that stress relief. Okay? Are you crazy? Rich? Right. Anger is the most stressful thing there is. Well, studies show that discharging anger is actually the most peaceful thing that you can do. It's the most common, has the most calming effect on the mind and the body. Oh, control. So if we're angry, we're provided with a sense of control in a situation as opposed to feeling helpless, which is a really bad feeling to have. Nothing worse than feeling helpless. Motivation. If we react and use anger appropriately, you can use that energy and the focus that it gives us to solve problems and get beyond any obstacles that are in our way. Here's a good one appropriate for these days. Justice, right. When we get angry, we find ourselves or others being cheat. We find others or ourselves being cheated inappropriately. We seek justice. We didn't get angry. We like wouldn't do anything about it. Another one is goal attainment, kind of similar to motivation and that we can use the anger to figure out ways to achieve our goals and clear away the obstacles that are in our way. Again, you have to use it in the right way, in a proportionate way, believe it or not anger is an optimism trigger. Anger can empower us to focus on believing that we can attain our goals. Think about that for a second. It's true. Protection of others. We see our little brother being attacked by a bully, we're going to get angry. We may need this energy to protect our little brother against the bully. It also promotes cooperation. Really? I mentioned this with my daughter. Like, are you crazy? How does it do that? Well, it most certainly can. If you get angry right in a meeting and again express it in a certain way, in the right way, people will be more likely to pay attention to you and cooperate with you to get to the right result. People don't like to see people upset. Right. But it has to be expressed appropriately, which means thoughtfully and respectfully. Otherwise the result will be the opposite. Be a good result and then emotional intelligence. Since anger is such a strong emotion, if you can figure this one out, the others are much easier. Be patient and appreciate anger. Make sure you catch it in time. Otherwise there can be serious consequences. So to be fair, let's take a look at the many dangerous drawbacks of anger. Right. Help. It's been well documented that chronic high levels of anger with respect to to intensity, duration, frequency and how it's expressed all can have extremely detrimental impacts on your health. The ways are many, but it would take us a long time to list them out. Just name a few like high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, insomnia, brain function, immune function, respiratory function. So there I listed them out. The primary reason is that the hormone cortisol is elevated during anger, which is fine for a short period of time. But for long periods of time, this hormone can wreak havoc on your mind and body. Body. So how else? Your self esteem. In the short term, your release of anger might feel good. Often longer term, if your anger was misplaced, disproportionate or just plain wrong, you'll feel shame, guilt or embarrassment over your outburst. This damages your self esteem, your relationships. Frequent outbursts. Intense outbursts of anger, either physical or verbal, can destroy families, marriages, friendships, you name it. Your children. Your children who witness chronic and intense outbursts of anger can be devastating. Right? It also sets a bad example for them. Your career. Poorly managed anger or frustration in the workplace can cause a lot of lost respect with co workers, impacts your ability to lead and retain employees. Your lifespan. Studies have shown that those with chronic anger have a reduced lifespan, which makes perfect sense given the health issues that anger creates. Anxiety disorders Anger tends to increase desire. Anxiety, it increases your stress levels, increases your depression levels. And judgment. Anger that is inappropriately expressed is often tied to a loss of prudent judgment, which can lead to undesirable consequences. For example, yelling at a referee late in a close game and being penalized for it, not in your best interest or your team's best interest.