anger

[Sasori_Te]

I agree with Tal on his last point. I don't think anyone wants to get angry. However it does happen occasionally. When it does you need to know how to handle it instead of ignoring it.

[Red J]

Sometimes, however, you need to express/release your anger. Punching a wall, for example, is a way of releasing stress and calming yourself. If you keep it all locked up and try to stay calm, you'll eventually explode and let it all out in one go, probably hitting your wife instead of the wall.

 

I wouldn't recommend either as a way to release anger. Maybe some anger management techniques would be in order....LOL.

[White Warlock]

Red J has a point. When you get angry, releasing it through 'violent actions' is not good, under any circumstances. There are ways to deal with anger, and there are ways to express or manage anger, but a human mind is not a volcano, nor is it reasonable to think of it in such a manner.

[TheDevilAside]

I don't see how releasing your anger by punching an Everlast punching bag is in any way harmful to anything or anyone other than the bag. People let out their anger in different ways, I, personally, would prefer punching a bag rather than walking through a rose garden. That just does not work for me. When your anger gets out of control and you start to harm others or yourself (for instance a massochist) then it starts to become a problem.

 

Therefore, I do agree with Tal completely. Some people's minds are like volcanoes, if they do not deal with their anger and let it out (in a way that puts no harm to others) but just swallow it, they will explode. That's what happend with Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. This is how the term "going postal" originated. I can go on.

 

I've punched walls, trees, and bags. But I've never sent anyone or myself to the hospital as a result of my anger getting out of control. Heh.. here we go, "sometimes violence is the answer"

[Drunken Monkey]

so um, if you only punch a bag to release anger, what do you do when there is no bag?

[Sasori_Te]

Can I change my position? *LOL*

[TheDevilAside]

I don't know, clench your fist to hold it down and run to the nearest bag in sight...

 

If there's no rose garden, no tea to sip, what do you do?

[White Warlock]

Some things posted here did not hit me at all right. People are not like volcanoes, but emotions that are constantly pampered become extreme (and thus the buildup) until eventually it grows to a state where others can be injured by it. When you strike out in anger, regardless of the object... you are feeding and expressing an emotion in an unhealthy manner.

 

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, what they did was psychotic, anti-social and criminal. They were predisposed to commit the murders they did. It had little to do with anger, and everything to do with mental disease. Many of the journalists that covered the events decided they were qualified enough in psychology to make diagnoses and then broadcast their ignorance. This is a personal peeve of mine, having worked as a journalist for a time. These 'easy media' journalists were wrong, and such was attested to in print by 'qualified' professionals.

 

There is a huge difference between those with mental disorders, and those not applying proper anger management. There is no need to cloud the issues by pulling out extremes, then stating, "this is what is going to happen to you if you don't hit a bag in anger."

When your anger gets out of control and you start to harm others or yourself (for instance a massochist) then it starts to become a problem.

I disagree. It doesn't start to become a problem then. At that point it has already gone too far.

 

Different emotions produce/inhibit different chemicals in your body. Someone subjected to one mourning state after another, gains an extremely strong chance of becoming chronically depressed. Their body becomes accustomed to the decreased levels of serotoninergic neurotransmission.

 

A larger threat is posed by extreme cases of emotional imbalance, such as that experienced when angry. By striking out, you 'feed' this emotion. It may feel as if it is being released, but in actuality you are encouraging it and forcing your body to be accustomed to it. This, in turn, causes a biochemical change that, if experienced frequently, can become chronic.

I, personally, would prefer punching a bag rather than walking through a rose garden.

The rose garden analogy is a straw man. This isn't a debate, so there is no need to toss out fallacious reasoning. There is no rose garden, nor did anyone insinuate anything analogous to it.

 

To close, anger is an emotion and everyone has it, but it is not healthy to pamper it or encourage it. The occasional 'beatdown' of an inanimate object (excluding the criminal act of vandalism) is not going to cause someone to turn into a psychotic murderer, just as the occasional non-violent response to being angry will not. But, hitting a bag also doesn't release this anger... it only expresses it. If you or anyone you know find themselves getting angry frequently, there are community services offering anger management courses.

 

A thought: Anger is an emotional response, triggered. Look to see what triggered it and you become a bit more aware as to what your issues are and how others are able to 'manipulate' your emotions. When I get angry, the first thing i do is determine what caused me to get angry. Invariably, it is something someone else did... which triggered an unhealthy response from me. Something in me that they were able to exploit, which I refer to as my 'buttons.' Now, i can choose to give someone else that much power over me, and give them access to those 'buttons,' or not.

 

I choose... not.

Edited March 1, 2004 by White Warlock

[Red J]

Punching your bag after a tough day at work is certainly different than punching your car when a cop is writing you a ticket, or punching the water cooler because you didn't get that big raise. Hopefully we all know the difference.

[shotochem]

Anger is a necessary part of all of us.......