Anger is a basic human emotion that is characterized by antagonism towards someone or something that is perceived to have deliberately done wrong. It is one of the basic human emotions, as elemental as happiness, sadness, anxiety, or disgust. Anger is a completely normal, usually healthy, human emotion, but when it gets out of control and turns destructive, it can lead to problems in work, personal relationships, and the overall quality of life.
Anger can be a good thing as it can give a way to express negative feelings or motivate one to find solutions to problems. However, excessive anger can cause problems. Increased blood pressure and other physical changes associated with anger make it difficult to think straight and harm physical and mental health.
Anger is a negative emotion, like jealousy, hate, and sometimes sadness. It can be explosive, violent, and destructive. Anger is a natural and mostly automatic response to pain of one form or another (physical or emotional) . The type of pain does not matter; the important thing is that the pain experienced is unpleasant. Because anger never occurs in isolation but rather is necessarily preceded by pain feelings, it is often characterized as a secondhand emotion. In this sense, anger is a social emotion; you always have a target that your anger is directed against (even if that target is yourself) .
The definition of whether someones anger is a problem often turns on whether or not other people agree with them that their anger, and the actions they take in the name of their anger, is justified. Angry people most always feel that their anger is justified. However, other people dont always agree. The social judgment of anger creates real consequences for the angry person. An angry person may feel justified in committing an angry, aggressive action, but if a judge or jury of peers do not see it that way, that angry person may still go to jail. If a boss doesnt agree that anger expressed towards a customer is justified, a job may still be lost. If a spouse doesnt agree that anger was justified, a marriage may have problems. Whether justified or unjustified, the seductive feeling of righteousness associated with anger offers a powerful temporary boost to self-esteem. The problem becomes that even justified anger can lead to negative consequences if it is not expressed in a healthy way.
