Anger – How to Stop it Getting in Your Way

Anger is part of being human and it has a very good reason for being there. When it’s managed well, anger can work hard for you. Let it own you though, and there’ll often be bucketloads of trouble. Here’s what you need to know to make it work for you.

The Take-Aways

  • Anger is a really important emotion. It has a really good reason for being there, but it can make us do stupid things that land us in bucket loads of trouble or that break relationships.
  • We don’t want to get rid of anger, but to learn to manage it in ways that are really effective and more likely to get you what you need.
  • Anger has a few good reasons for being there.
  • The first is to let you now that there is something in the way of something really important to you.
  • The second is to energise us and activate us to get our needs met, or to get is in our way, out of our way.
  • The third reason anger shows up is to stop more difficult and more intense emotions from finding their way to the surface. Anger is the only emotion that doesn’t exist on its own. There’s always another feeling driving anger. It might be jealousy, disappointment, fear, disgust, anxiety, sadness – it could be anything. Often, anger is an easier one to feel, or an easier one to deal with than these other feelings.
  • It’s been suggested that when you’re angry, lose 30% of your intelligence. Anger is driven by the part of the brain that is responsible for instinctive, impulsive behaviour. During anger, the body is surged with a neurochenical fuel to get you energised and activated and able to physically respond to whatever is in your way. Here’s the problem. When those neurochemicals are surging through you, they it actually send the thinking part of your brain offline. This is an instinctive response designed to make sure we get ourselves safe before we think too hard and too long about how to respond to a situation. This is a fine piece of design if there’s actually a threat that we need to fight or flee, but often the reason we’re angry is because we’ve been let down, or because an important need has been thwarted.
  • During high emotion, especially anger, you need your smarts. Breathing is a powerful way to bring the thinking brain back online. Breathing neutralises the neurochemical surge that has sent the thinking part of your brain offline.
  • Breathe in for 3, hold for 1, out for three. Do this a few times. The sooner you can do this before you feel your anger rising, the more effective it will be in helping you feel calm again.
  • It doesn’t mean you’re going to instantly feel better, and it doesn’t mean you’re not going to feel angry anymore. What it means is you’re going to be able to act in a way which is more considerate, more thoughtful, less likely to end in trouble.
  • The other thing to do when you’re feeling angry is to do something physical to burn off the angry energy created by the neurochemical surge to get you ready to deal with the threat. This might be going for a brisk walk, a run, kicking a ball – anything that helps to burn up that excess energy will help you to feel calmer.
  • Something else to try when you’re angry is to to sit with your anger for long enough to figure out what the feeling is behind it. This will help you to find more clarity around what you need. This might look like finding a quiet place to think, going for a walk, writing or journaling. When you’re clearer about what you need, you’ll be more likely to act in a way that is more effective in getting you what you need. 

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“Karen Young - Hey Sigmund has such a wonderful way with words especially around anxiety. This is her latest beautiful picture book that explains anxiety through the lens of the Polyvagal theory using the metaphor of a house. This shows how sometimes anxiety can be hard to notice. I think this book can help kids and teens better understand stress and anxiety. I loved it! This would be great for homes, schools and in libraries.
Congratulations Karen.💛”
Of course we love them, no matter what - but they need to feel us loving them, no matter what. Especially when they are acting in unlovable ways, or saying unlovable things. Especially then.

This is not ‘rewarding bad behaviour’. To think this assumes that they want to behave badly. They don’t. What they want is to feel calm and safe again, but in that moment they don’t have the skills to do that themselves, so they need us to help them. 

It’s leading with love. It’s showing up, even when it’s hard. The more connected they feel to us, the more capacity we will have to lead them - back to calm, into better choices, towards claiming their space in the world kindly, respectfully, and with strength. 

This is not about dropping the boundary, but about holding it lovingly, ‘I can see you’re doing it tough right now. I’m right here. No, I won’t let you [name the boundary]. I’m right here. You’re not in trouble. We’ll get through this together.’

If you’re not sure what they need, ask them (when they are calm), ‘When you get upset/ angry/ anxious, what could I do that would help you feel loved and cared for in that moment? And this doesn’t mean saying ‘yes’ to a ‘no’ situation. What can I do to make the no easier to handle? What do I do that makes it harder?’♥️
Believe them AND believe in them. 

‘Yes this is hard. I know how much you don’t want to do this. It feels big doesn’t it. And I know you can do big things, even when it feels like you can’t. How can I help?’

They won’t believe in themselves until we show them what they are capable of. For this, we’ll have to believe in their ‘can’ more than they believe in their ‘can’t’.♥️
Sometimes it feels as though how we feel directs what we do, but it also works the other way: What we do will direct how we feel. 

When we avoid, we feel more anxious, and a bigger need to avoid. But when we do brave - and it only needs to be a teeny brave step - we feel brave. The braver we do, the braver we feel, and the braver we do… This is how we build brave - with tiny, tiny uncertain steps. 

So, tell me how you feel. All feelings are okay to be there. Now tell me what you like to do if your brave felt a little bigger. What tiny step can we take towards that. Because that brave is always in you. Always. And when you take the first step, your brave will rise bigger to meet you.♥️
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#anxietyinkids #consciousparenting #parentingtips #gentleparent #parentinglife #mindfulparenting #childanxiety #heywarrior
If anxiety has had extra big teeth lately, I know how brutal this feels. I really do. Think of it as the invitation to strengthen your young ones against anxiety. It’s not the disappearance of brave, or the retreat of brave. It’s the invitation to build their brave.

This is because the strengthening against anxiety happens only with experience. When the experience is in front of you, it can feel like bloodshed. I know that. I really do. But this is when we fight for them and with them - to show them they can do this.

The need to support their avoidance can feel relentless. But as long as they are safe, we don’t need to hold them back. We’ll want to, and they’ll want us to, but we don’t need to. 

Handling the distress of anxiety IS the work. Anxiety isn’t the disruption to building brave, it’s the invitation to build brave. As their important adult who knows they are capable, strong, and brave, you are the one to help them do that.

The amygdala only learns from experience - for better or worse. So the more they avoid, the more the amygdala learns that the thing they are avoiding is ‘unsafe’, and it will continue to drive a big fight (anger, distress) or flight (avoidance) response. 

On the other hand, when they stay with the discomfort of anxiety - and they only need to stay with it for a little longer each time (tiny steps count as big steps with anxiety) - the amygdala learns that it’s okay to move forward. It’s safe enough.

This learning won’t happen quickly or easily though. In fact, it will probably get worse before it gets better. This is part of the process of strengthening them against anxiety, not a disruption to it. 

As long as they are safe, their anxiety and the discomfort of that anxiety won’t hurt them. 
What’s important making sure they don’t feel alone in their distress. We can do this with validation, which shows our emotional availability. 

They also need to feel us holding the boundary, by not supporting their avoidance. This sends the message that we trust their capacity to handle this.

‘I know this feels big, and I know you can do this. What would feel brave right now?’♥️

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