Anger Management: Psychologists Share Surprising Way to Eliminate Your Fury

Not everyone can deal with their anger issues healthily. Some tend to be destructive and aggressive. However, there's a gentle and effective way to manage this feeling.

How to Eliminate Anger?

In a new study, researchers from Nagoya University in Japan discovered a simple way to deal with anger --writing the reaction to a negative incident on a piece of paper and throwing it away.

According to the psychologists behind the study, it was effective in reducing one's frustration. They were even surprised because they thought it would only reduce the level of animosity, but the anger nearly disappeared.

"We expected that our method would suppress anger to some extent," said lead researcher Nobuyuki Kawai. "However, we were amazed that anger was eliminated almost entirely."

Doctorate candidates Kawai and Yuta Kanaya requested participants in the study to write down their thoughts regarding significant social issues. For instance, whether it is appropriate to outlaw smoking in public.

The participants were told a doctorate candidate would assess it at Nagoya University. Nevertheless, the "doctoral student" was fake. The participants received low scores for wit, interest, friendliness, logic, and rationality, regardless of what they wrote.

They also received the same response, which read: "I hope this person learns something while at the university. I cannot believe an educated person would think like this."

Following that, the participants were instructed to write their opinions on the feedback, concentrating on the things that made them feel a certain way. After that, they were divided into two groups.

The first group was instructed to either file the paper they had written in their desk file or toss it in the trash. A second group was instructed to either put the document in a plastic box or shred it in a shredder.

After the insult and after deciding whether to keep or discard the paper, the participants were asked to score their anger.

After hearing derogatory remarks, every participant admitted that they were very angry. Nevertheless, after throwing away the paper, the irate people who had thrown it in the garbage or destroyed it went back to how they were feeling before. In contrast, those who retained a paper copy of the insult saw very little reduction in their level of rage overall.

"This technique could be applied in the moment by writing down the source of anger as if taking a memo and then throwing it away when one feels angry in a business situation," explained Kawai.

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Does Venting Make You Less Angry?

Another study examined the effect of venting when one is angry. The researchers learned that it doesn't help at all because it raises one's physiological arousal.

While expressing anger can temporarily reduce stress and provide a sense of fulfillment, it can also increase arousal. Punching and kicking are examples of physical behaviors of venting anger that also increase body arousal. A specialist pointed out that increasing body arousal in any way does not aid in lowering anger.

Increased physiological arousal is indicated by increases in heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, muscle tension, and other relevant indicators. These responses prime people for action by getting their bodies ready for it.

Instead of venting anger, Sophie Kjærvik, a postdoctoral fellow at Virginia Commonwealth University who led the study, recommended focusing on calming down. It is important to lower physiological arousal in order to feel less agitated and more relaxed.

Stress-reduction techniques like deep breathing, mindfulness, yoga, meditation, and counting to ten helped reduce anger instead of venting.