Anger is a normal and natural emotion. It is perfectly healthy to feel angry when there is good reason. Everyone gets angry at some point. The important thing is to find non-harmful ways of expressing your anger. Losing your temper is rarely the answer and violence never is.
Try It at Home
If your device doesn’t support the game above, or you just need other ways to manage your anger then you could try the following. We would always advise talking to someone about how you feel so that anger doesn’t become a big problem.
Be Assertive
You might decide that you want to tell someone that something is making you angry. It would probably be useful to think it through first to make it easier. Here are some things that you could try:
- Think through what it is exactly that you are angry about.
- Ask yourself what you want to happen about it. Is it enough just to let someone know or do you want something to change?
- Before and when you are talking about it remember to breathe steadily – this will help you to keep calm.
- Be specific when you are talking. Describe the situation and express your feelings in words. For example, say “I feel angry with you because…”. By using ‘I’, it avoids making the other person feel blamed or attacked
- Listen to what the other person is saying and try to understand their point of view.
- Be polite at all times, even if the other person isn’t. Think about how you want to feel about yourself after the conversation. Self-respect is important
- Be prepared for the conversation to go wrong and try to spot if this is happening. If you feel that you are getting angry and that you might lose it then it’s OK to come back to the conversation another time.
Get Physical
If you need to release some anger and you aren’t ready to talk about it then you could:
- Go for a run
- Go to the gym
- Do some press-ups
- Do some sit-ups
- Do some star-jumps
- Shout into your pillow
- Do something enjoyable
Also, instead of getting physical, you could try to do something relaxing. Use our ‘Get More Chilled’ page?
