10/28/2025
How to Process Anger
1. Learn the early warning signs of anger, which are typically physical: a knot in your stomach; shallow breathing; facial flushing or a sensation of heat in your face, neck or chest; clenched fists or your shoulders moving up towards your ears; amplified speaking.
2. As soon as you recognize you're getting angry, acknowledge it out loud or mentally: "I need a moment." Naming what's happening validates your experience and slows the surge of emotions: name it to tame it.
3. Create distance from whatever triggered your anger: leave the room, stop the conversation or end work on the task with which you're involved.
4. Continue to slow your angry reaction by going for a walk; drink cold water or splash cold water on your face; engage in progressive muscle relaxation, in which you tighten and release your muscles from your feet up to your face; text or call a friend for support; draw, doodle or journal; box breathing: inhale for 4 counts, hold for four counts, exhale for four counts.
5. Anger is the bodyguard for fear and grief, and fear triggers anxiety. If your thoughts begin with, "What if?" that's a clear sign it's an anxious thought. If you're asking, "What if I fail?", ask yourself, "What if I don't?" Switch your self-talk from negative to positive.
6. Engage in self-care: plenty of sleep, regular exercise and stretching, balanced diet, journaling, mindfulness activities, spending time in nature, creating art, spiritual practices and prayer, taking medications consistently, practicing good hygiene, less screen time, reading, coloring, breathing techniques, setting boundaries and saying, "No," and mental health therapy.
Take care of your anger and yourself!!!
*Information condensed from ADDitude and Psychology Today articles.
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