Anger often roots from deeper, more vulnerable feelings like fear, hurt, sadness, shame, or disappointment, acting as a secondary emotion to a perceived threat, injustice, or unmet need. Common triggers include feeling attacked, out of control, let down, or having boundaries crossed, stemming from current stressors, past experiences (like trauma or childhood issues), or internal thoughts. Essentially, anger signals that something important to you is being challenged, but the visible anger is usually just the "tip of the iceberg" for underlying emotional pain.
It might be because of a difficult situation we're experiencing. Or something that happened to us in the past. Sometimes, we might feel anger because of how we interpret and react to certain situations. People can interpret situations differently.
Anger emerges when you feel threatened—emotionally, physically, financially, or in other ways. At the root of many angry feelings is a sense of powerlessness.
4 most common roots of anger
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.
For example, the DongUiBoGam states the following: “Liver is in charge of anger, heart is in charge of happiness, spleen is in charge of thoughtfulness, lungs are in charge of sadness, and kidneys are in charge of fear.” The quantification of the terms used to explain the relationships between emotion and bodily organs ...
Anger can be a normal response to a traumatic event. Anger gives you energy to act quickly and help yourself or others. Your body goes into a "survival" mode. After the event, when you no longer need to act, the anger usually goes away.
Anger is often a reaction to and distraction from inner suffering—feelings such as sadness, powerlessness, shame, anxiety, inadequacy, and isolation. Anger can be both an outgrowth of, and meaningful distraction, from the intense pain of underlying depression.
Uncontrolled anger is a result of being unwilling to deal with the sin fully and immediately (Ephesians 4:26b). Anger is closely related to bitterness, wrath, slander, revenge, and malice (Ephesians 4:31). Anger may stem from refusing to forgive others or failing to accept the forgiveness of Christ (Ephesians 4:31-32).
The final stage of anger is rage or fury. It is an intense and often overwhelming emotional state. Physical symptoms, such as increased heart rate and adrenaline rush, are common. There is a high risk of destructive behaviour at this stage, including physical aggression or verbal outbursts.
It's a basic human emotion that is wired into every one of us, and like all emotions, it has a purpose. Anger can motivate change, set boundaries, highlight injustice, or signal that something in our life is out of alignment. The real issue isn't feeling anger. It's what we do with it.
Stripped of physical imprisonment and violent reaction, anger is the purest form of care, the internal living flame of anger always illuminates what we belong to, what we wish to protect and what we are willing to hazard ourselves for.
ANGER primes increased systolic blood pressure and the magnitude of this increase predicted reaction time prolongation. Within the brain, ANGER trials evoked an enhancement of activity within dorsal pons and an attenuation of activity within visual occipitotemporal and attentional parietal cortices.
Many mental health disorders can contribute to feelings of anger, which can be a symptom of underlying issues. Conditions such as depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can also include anger as a significant symptom.
Managing anger in the moment
According to HealthyPsyche, anger is often a “secondary emotion”—people express anger when they actually feel one or more of the following:
The 3 R's of anger management offer a simple framework: Recognize your anger's early signs and triggers, Reduce its intensity with calming techniques like deep breathing, and Respond/Redirect/Resolve by taking a break to rethink the situation or channel energy productively (exercise, problem-solving) rather than reacting impulsively. Some variations use Regulate, Relate, Reason, focusing on calming the body, connecting, then problem-solving.
A fool vents all his feelings, But a wise man holds them back.
Outwardly, however, anger can cause someone to raise their voice, tremble, clench their jaw, sweat, or pace. The four stages of anger are the buildup, the spark, the explosion, and the aftermath. Within these stages lies the possibility of deescalating an angry reaction before a situation gets out of hand.
Beneath the surface of anger lie primary emotions that drive this secondary reaction. These underlying emotions can include hurt, fear, frustration, sadness, or vulnerability. It's often challenging to tap into these emotions because society often encourages us to suppress or deny them.
10 Healthy Ways to Release Rage
In univariate analyses, all 5 forms of childhood trauma in this study (ie, witnessing violence, physical neglect, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse) demonstrated statistically significant relationships with the number of different aggressive behaviors reported in adulthood.
The best therapy for anger management is often Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which teaches you to identify and change negative thought patterns and behaviors, alongside skills like relaxation and problem-solving; however, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), mindfulness, stress inoculation, and family therapy are also highly effective, especially for underlying issues or severe cases, with the ideal choice depending on your specific triggers and anger patterns.
Calm, Control, Communicate, and Change give a simple framework to control anger and reduce aggression. Calm – uses deep breathing and relaxation techniques to cool reactions within minutes.