Often times people who have been encouraged to attend anger management classes wonder what types of thing they will be learning. They aren’t quite sure what to expect so they put off seeking the help they so desperately need. Here we will offer a glimpse into the kinds of thing you can expect to gain by attending classes on anger management.
One thing you can expect is that the mechanics of anger will be discussed giving you some ways to understand this some what baffling and for some people out of control behavior. When something unpleasant happens, we all have internalized responses that trigger us to respond appropriately or inappropriately or somewhere in between these two extremes.
If we truly dissect our response to anger we can see that the stages of anger go through a somewhat similar and recognizable process. First there is something that occurs to trigger a negative response inside of us. This feeling is usually connected to a disappointment or hurtful situation. And especially for men but often for women as well we take our hurts and move them into an unforgiving spirit which then has the tendency to escalate into resentment and then into hatred with a need for revenge.
Many of us at this later stage of anger lash out at the person or object we believe has caused us the pain in the first place as we want them to feel the hurt we believe they have inflicted on us. Remember, this whole process takes place within our perception of things not necessarily the reality of the actual situation.
Next, in your anger management classes, you might take a look at the varied responses by people to these feeling of anger. Some people will withdraw inside themselves preferring to not discuss their feeling with anyone so they retreat to their own little world. Others may curse their so called enemies or take out their anger on inanimate objects like doors or walls while still others lash out to physically harm and even quite possibly kill the person they believe has wronged them.
You Can Actually Be Blinded By Anger
One problem that occurs at the peak of a fit of a rage is the fact that the person is actually blinded by these out of control feelings. They become totally out of touch with themselves and the anger becomes all consuming. That’s why there is such a great need to understand your own reactions and learn new ways to deal with and control the angry feeling long before they have a chance to reach this final and destructive stage.
Once enough of the rage has been dissipated the blinding stage of rage subsides and our regrets set in. It’s at this point that our senses return and we examine the harm we have caused and we go into the final stage which is regret and a desire to offer our apologies.
If any of this so far sounds familiar to you and you can see yourself falling into this destructive pattern then let me be the next one to actually suggest that you do indeed sign up for anger management classes and learn from them what you can in order to change this destructive cycle into a constructive one for yourself and everyone affected by your out of control behavior.