Five Ways To Control Anger

Anger Management Techniques

On this page: Ways to Control Anger - Free Anger Management Tips.
Points to anger management techniques to express your anger effectively.

With research linking prolonged anger and depression, it is a good idea to practice doing what we can to control anger. This could mean taking online anger management classes for some; for others, it could mean following the anger management tips and ideas provided on this website.

Below are FIVE ways to control anger and conquer it. Of course, not all these tips work for all situations, but at least one or a combination of them will work for most situations that could cause your temper to rise.

"Anyone who angers you conquers you." -Unknown.

Since anger arises from failed expectations, changing expectations follows as a natural remedy to bypass the anger alley.

That implies being flexible enough to change expectations based on the situation at hand.

So instead of getting upset over a missed appointment, try to acknowledge the missed appointment in a calm manner.

Now plan for what needs to be done to recoup the missed appointment.

In essence, what we did is take that appointment out of your "expectations list", and revise that "list" with a new plan.

By revising the "list" as you go, you are no longer setting yourself up to be angry when something goes against expectations.

And its amazing how your creative machinery wakes up to come up with viable alternatives to a failed plan, the moment the cloud frustration starts to recede.

Here is a good tip for controlling anger. See if you can rephrase your internal dialogue to put a positive spin to your current situation.

For instance, instead of "Darn.. I missed the flight", may be a "It's a good thing I missed the flight, now I have some breathing time to read a relaxing novel before my next flight", OR "... sight see for a couple of hours before the next flight."

This is one of the most common ways to control anger, as well as to reduce stress. Sometimes there is really not much you can do any ways - Like when you are stuck in a traffic jam.

There are Anger Management Games that help us practice dealing with situations that are not entirely in our control, instead of getting upset over them.

But here is another neat trick - If the situation gets aggravating and there is not much you can do about it, one of the common anger management techniques suggested is to breathe slowly - inhale and exhale - freely, normally and effortlessly, for a count of 10 or 15.

This just relaxes your tensed up muscles, and when your muscles return to normal state, its not surprising if you notice your temper fading away as well.

"The greatest remedy for anger is delay." -Seneca

Focusing on relaxing tensed muscles is not only one of the good ways to control anger, but also a great technique for chasing fear away and gaining self confidence in a stressful situation as well.

We all need that sometimes! Take a break from whatever it is you are doing, and get a change of environment if possible. Get out and get a cup of coffee.

Getting away is one of the good ways to help us identify, and consequently address, the REAL issue that is bugging us, as opposed to what we think we are angry at.

You may think its the work load that's causing you to be irritable, but a little introspection might trace it down to the disagreement your spouse had with you a few days back, on what you had then thought to be a relatively minor issue.

And the last of the ways to control anger is to try and find humor in the situation.

Sometimes it can help subside our temper, if we are able to laugh at the situation, and/or ourselves as well.

For instance, instead of getting annoyed at a nit-picking colleague, you can see that as a funny situation and see if you can guess the next excuse she is going to come up on your work.

If you did, bravo.. you have figured her out, haven't you?

A lot of times, humor helps you take things in the right spirit, and is often an excellent antidote to anger. Laughter is a proven antidote for stress relief as well.

"There are two situations a person should never be angry at - what they can help, and what they cannot." -Plato

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