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Anger Is Good, Aggression Is Destructive
Discover the difference between anger and aggression in this insightful blog, where we discuss strategies to control aggressive behavior, debunk myths about anger.
Sol TV
March 23, 2023
This Newsletter at a Glance:
đź’ˇ Learn the Difference Between Anger and Aggression
⚡ TL/DR: How to Control Aggressive Behavior
🎥 Video Bite: Sarah Barzak on How to Cope With Anger
🤏 Sol Bites: Two Anger Myths
🦉 Words of Wisdom
🤼 Anger vs. Aggression
We often equate anger and aggression, but did you know they are not the same things?
Anger is a normal, healthy feeling that everyone experiences.
Aggression is a consequence of being angry—and can be harmful and destructive.
Acts of aggression:
⚡ TL/DR: How to manage aggressive behavior
No matter how much you try to control your emotions, you can’t eliminate them. The one thing you can do is influence your emotions through your thoughts and behavior. And that means you do have control over aggression. Here’s how:
1) Track and analyze your triggers. đź“ť
Take note of the people and situations that often lead to an outburst of anger. Consider the context of the situation, the person involved, and your emotions. Take time to think about how you could respond differently in the future.
2) Validate your anger. 🌟
Recognize it as a normal emotion and allow yourself to experience it without judgment. But you still need to choose what to do with that anger.
3) Recognize the other emotions around anger. 🔍
Secondary emotions (Sadness, Fear, etc.) can help us understand our reactions and diffuse the intensity of our primary emotion.
4) Expand your anger vocabulary. đź“š
Anger is a complex emotion that can take many forms, from intense, short-lived rage to mild, long-lasting resentment. Start incorporating the different shades of anger into your vocabulary.
5) Stop ruminating about anger. đźš«
The quickest way out of anger is to stop thinking about what triggered it and telling stories about what should have happened.
A quick tip: If you’re dwelling on an incident, break your thought cycle by turning on music or something else to refocus your attention. Or, choose to tell a different, more positive story to avoid going down an anger rabbit hole.6) Pause your anger ⏸️
Delay dealing with it until you are in a calmer state of mind. Time will also help you put things into perspective.
7) Put your feelings on paper. đź““
Slow the burn by writing instead of acting or talking about it.
Sol Bites 🤏 Two myths about anger
Myth #1: You must express your anger to “release” it.
Research shows that expressing your anger (the cathartic theory of anger) will not help you “release” it; instead, it can make it worse. It’s better to address the source of the feeling or find a distraction to help lessen its intensity.
Myth #2: Anger is a negative emotion.
Most emotion researchers consider anger a positive emotion–even though people do negative things when angry (i.e., acting aggressively).
How does this make sense? Anger feels good because it boosts your ego and makes you feel righteous. Angry people often fall into the trap of believing they are right and the another person is wrong.
🎞️ Video Bite
Meet Sarah Barzak, Sol TV Creator and versatile artist. With roles in art, culture, education, and production, she is a lifelong learner and a passionate advocate for cross-cultural exchange and intersectional storytelling. In this video, Sarah discusses managing aggression, its physical manifestations, and offers three helpful coping techniques.
đź’ˇ Words of wisdom
The only way to deconstruct aggression is to understand its roots and address the underlying issues that cause it.
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We love you,
Mona & The Sol TV Team ❤️
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