Is there a use for Anger?

Centralia, Missouri
December 21, 2016 10:21am CST
Many people aren't comfortable with anger, either their own or someone else's. I know I am very often not. But it IS a human emotion...so is it a bad one, something to be feared or avoided? I don't know. But I do know there are many articles out there on this, and some, at least, do learn towards it having a point. Anger, I have to agree, even while I don't like it, does have a purpose. Anger: as a motivating force. We see an injustice, get angry about it, and finally decide to do something. Some people call this process turning anger into positive energy. Maybe this makes this constructive anger. Anger: as a force behind optimism? I don't know about this one, but there were some studies apparently, those angry about things, like happy people, tended to be more optimistic than sad depressed people. Weird huh? Anger: expressed to keep relationships healthy. I can see this one. If we hide any emotion from our loved ones, they don't know how we are feeling. Now I don't mean let it out like the dogs of war on a nice tbone, but letting someone know they have made us mad, or hurt our feelings, or made us angry, is good. These things need discussed, apologies need given, feelings need validated. Etc. Anger: as a clue to learn about ourselves. It is a part of how we feel and see the world. Figuring out why we are angry, what need is not being met, or what needs to be addressed or changed, or simply acknowledging it, can help us grow. Anger: to reduce violence? See this one basically means, we learn to express anger in a healthy manner, so it doesn't bottle up and blow up into a violent thing. Also, it again, helps us know what we need to change, to break the violence cycle, rather like the whistle on a boiling kettle. Anger: a way to get what you want, a negotiation strategy. This pretty much is just the whole giving energy to something you feel passionate about, so you are more likely to really push to a solution you want. But again, it's controlled anger, like a controlled burn, rather than a wildfire. Fires out of control burn everyone and everything, not just where and what you may want them too. So, yeah, I think anger is useful. But we have to learn to recognize it, learn how to trace back what's causing it, and figure out how to handle it. Then maybe it will be less feared.
13 people like this
13 responses
@vandana7 (102698)
• India
21 Dec 16
Extremely interesting post jessa..and I agree with it almost completely. But like anything anger needs to be controlled and anger needs to be on logical issues. Not based on some lopsided thinking or self justification. So there may be good anger and bad anger like good cholesterol and bad cholesterol. :) Good anger is justified and bad anger not. And good anger may be managed to lead to solutions whereas we need to find cure for bad anger...as it can lead to unhappiness and irrational behavior all around, not to mention health problems usually in victims of that anger.
2 people like this
• Centralia, Missouri
21 Dec 16
oh even bad anger, if you figure out why you are angry etc, could do you some good. (but I do agree it needs to be dealt with and controlled, not just allowed to blow up all over)
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (102698)
• India
21 Dec 16
@Jessicalynnt .. I do not agree that bad anger is good. Bad anger is based on illogical perceptions and lack of knowledge and ego and vague beliefs. That sure needs to disappear.
1 person likes this
• Centralia, Missouri
22 Dec 16
@vandana7 but what makes it "bad" not dealing with it right, I think at it's base, anger is anger, what makes it bad or good is how we handle it.
1 person likes this
• Agra, India
21 Dec 16
Anger has both good and bad aspects... Sometimes it can be really useful and attimes lethal
2 people like this
• Centralia, Missouri
22 Dec 16
very true, it's more about how we process and handle it, than the anger itself
2 people like this
• Agra, India
22 Dec 16
@Jessicalynnt yes...everything has a limit
2 people like this
@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
4 Jan 17
your poist is great good commom sense good foryou
1 person likes this
• Centralia, Missouri
6 Jan 17
I had one of my odd inspirations that day
@celticeagle (189792)
• Boise, Idaho
22 Dec 16
Anger is a human emotion. It's to help people let off steam. It is also a danger sign in some. Red Irish for instance. Like myself. Only happens about twice a year or so. Some don't have control over it and have never been taught to handle it and so they get themselves into trouble. Anger is useful to the physical body to release but, that is all. It is a mood and something the individual needs to learn about for themselves.We should be thankful we have this emotion but we do need to learn to handle it.
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@celticeagle (189792)
• Boise, Idaho
22 Dec 16
@Jessicalynnt ......That's right. The trick is learning how to control it.
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• Centralia, Missouri
22 Dec 16
very true, it of itself is neither bad or good, it's useful. It can be harmful if we handle it wrong, or never learn how to
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• Centralia, Missouri
23 Dec 16
@celticeagle control, process, understand, handle, yeah
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@FayeHazel (40230)
• United States
23 Dec 16
Great post, I'm actually reading a book right now called " Anger, handling a powerful emotion ...." it's pretty interesting. Some great insights in here
1 person likes this
• Centralia, Missouri
23 Dec 16
anything to add to this?
• Trinidad And Tobago
21 Dec 16
I think that destructive anger is what we most fear.
1 person likes this
• Centralia, Missouri
22 Dec 16
very much so! enough that we avoid learning, which is more dangerous, because it doesn't go away, it just get's buried until when it does pop up, it does with a bigger boom
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• Centralia, Missouri
22 Dec 16
@Gita17112016 no, by fearing it, and not learning how to manage an emotion that is part of the human experience, we set ourselves up to have adverse reactions to it, face it, we all will get angry at some point. learning to identify why we are angry, what we need to feel better, what is ok, what is not ok, will help the anger remain constructive and not bubble over to an explosion
• Trinidad And Tobago
22 Dec 16
@Jessicalynnt I don't know if we 'avoid learning' as much as that part of our emotion rules out everything, so much so, that the anger is in charge and not the rational part of our brain. Learning is not an option...that's why it is so destructive. . It's something to fear because there can be a lot of causalities, including ourselves.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (74988)
• United States
21 Dec 16
You are exactly right anger can be good if we learn to channel it in productive ways and not let it get to extreme so learning to control it.
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• Centralia, Missouri
21 Dec 16
it is also, often, a side affect of fear, which is something else people don't like to deal with
• United States
21 Dec 16
I rarley get angry at all but when I do it is usually with my husband but I walk away from him and go in another room and then he will come in the rom where I am and say I am sorry and start laughing and give me a hug Then it goes away.
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• Centralia, Missouri
22 Dec 16
that is a good way actually, cooling off time
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@Bluedoll (16770)
• Canada
22 Dec 16
How did you write this? You must have looked anger straight in the eye and asked who are you? Now that I know you ... what you then wrote . . this is 100% your work.
@valmnz (17095)
• New Zealand
21 Dec 16
Anger expressed in the right way can have it's purpose. I see it a bit like the smaller earthquakes we have here, or thermal outbursts, letting off pressure to try and avoid the big one. Not that we've avoided big ones lately!
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• Centralia, Missouri
22 Dec 16
that is a really good analogy
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@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
21 Dec 16
Anger has its place in life. It is how we handle and express our anger that is important. If we, as you stated, turn our anger into something productive, this is good. If we allow our anger to lead us into reacting with violence - verbal, emotional, or physical - then we have become destructive both of that at which we are angry, and ourselves.
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• Centralia, Missouri
22 Dec 16
Exactly the point I was trying to make, it's not the anger, it's the dealing with that can be problematic, or be a good thing
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@shshiju (10342)
• Cochin, India
23 Dec 16
Anger is an emotion and if it is not justified it will hurts many minds. If the purpose is good anger makes emotional comfort.
@amandajay (23262)
• New Zealand
23 Dec 16
I'm short tempered... I always loose something because of that