Typically, one of the primary emotions, like fear or sadness, can be found underneath the anger.
It's known as “the Anger Iceberg,” because it shows other emotions and feelings that may lurk below the surface. Sometimes it's embarrassment, loneliness, depression, or fear. Other times, it's a combination of several feelings.
Some mental health professionals refer to anger as a secondary emotion. According to Dr. Harry Mills, anger is the emotion we are most aware we are experiencing. However, anger usually just hides the presence of deeper and less comfortable emotions like sadness, guilt, embarrassment, hurt, fear, etc.
People often express their anger in different ways, but they usually share four common triggers. We organize them into buckets: frustrations, irritations, abuse, and unfairness.
Fear – One of the core triggers to anger is fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of success, and other fears may prompt the anger within you which may cause you to act or react in a certain way.
Anger and the Core Hurt Types
Often when we get angry about something, there is hurt behind why we are offended. There are 8 Core Hurt Feelings: disregarded, unimportant, accused, guilty, devalued, rejected, powerless, inadequate, or unlovable.
Defining Anger as a Secondary Emotion
A secondary emotion is an emotion fueled by other emotions. For example, if you become hurt in some way, you might express this negative emotion instead of emotional and physical pain – it might be easier to express anger than express hurt.
The mnemonic of “The Three C's” (Catching, Checking, and Changing) can be particularly helpful to children in learning this process. To engage children in treatment, therapists often frame the therapy experience as “becoming a detective” to investigate their thinking.
Our lower backs store most of our unexpressed anger. Many people develop severe and debilitating pain in the lumbar region of the back. Chronic stress activates the sympathetic nervous system that puts pressure on the spinal cord.
Manifestations of Suppressed Anger
Substitute emotions: Some people might substitute other emotions for anger. For instance, they might feel sad, depressed, anxious, guilty, or ashamed, rather than feeling angry. Numbness: Some people may deny their emotions to the extent that they may feel numb or shut down entirely.
Repressed anger can develop into depression when turned inwards. Unaddressed rage or frustration can result in a person's internal monologue becoming self-critical and belittling. An inordinate amount of shame or guilt can fester. Negative self-talk, shame, and guilt increases the likelihood of developing depression.
Anger triggers the body's 'fight or flight' response. Other emotions that trigger this response include fear, excitement and anxiety. The adrenal glands flood the body with stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol.
Anger Can Be a Necessary and Useful Emotion:
At its core anger alerts us to threats and tells us when one of our fundamental needs has gone unmet or has been squashed. In doing so anger makes it clear to us who we are.
Enraged. This is the stage when you feel completely out of control. You may exhibit destructive behavior when your anger reaches this point, such lashing out physically, excessive swearing, or threatening violence.
Destructive Anger
It's an extremely dangerous type because, in addition to being potentially violent, destructive anger expresses itself as intense hatred, even in cases where it may not be warranted. “Destructive anger could turn into violent behavior toward another person or group.
Silent Anger
Silent anger is a non-verbal, internal way of experiencing anger. Although you may not verbally express it, it is possible for others to read that you are angry.
Stress, financial issues, abuse, poor social or familial situations, and overwhelming requirements on your time and energy can all contribute to the formation of anger. As with disorders such as alcoholism, anger issues may be more prevalent in individuals who were raised by parents with the same disorder.
Through his research, Fields outlines the nine primary triggers of the human rage circuit and puts them into the handy mnemonic LIFEMORTS: Life-or-death situation, Insult, Family, Environment, Mate, Order in society, Resources, Tribe and Stopped (being restrained or cornered).
Epinephrine which is also known as adrenaline, is a chemical compound with formula (HO) 2C6H3CH (OH) CH2NHCH3 and is released while becoming angry.
Anger is Complicated
When we become angry, it is because we first feel something else: marginalized, hurt, disrespected, vulnerable, or neglected. In this way, anger is much more complicated than other emotions.
Anger is a connection to love. A form of love. A form of love that means we stand up for others and for ourselves, we shout loudly that things are not ok, we protect others, we take a stand, and we fight for what's right. It's a form of love.
Anger is typically an attempt to control the actions or behaviors of others to get our needs and wants met by others. Anger is the result of frustration when you do not get what you need, want, or expect from life or others. Anger is essentially a control tactic.