According to mental health professionals, individuals who experienced trauma as children are more likely to struggle with anger, and they emphasize that experiencing extreme trauma increases the likelihood of acting aggressively.
Their position was in response to a study that was presented at the European Congress of Psychiatry in Paris, France, and revealed a connection between anger and traumatic experiences in childhood.
The mental health professionals observed that depressed and anxious individuals, who undoubtedly had a painful childhood, are more likely to become irate adults.
They found that, with the exception of sexual abuse, all types of childhood trauma were associated with higher levels of wrath, a higher frequency of rage attacks, and antisocial personality traits in adulthood.
All forms of anger are related to emotional neglect, psychological abuse, and physical violence, according to experts Dr. Jide Jeje of the National Health Service in Southampton, England, and Dr. Samuel Aladejare of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Yaba, Lagos.
Despite the fact that expressing anger can be a beneficial emotion, according to Dr. Jeje, it can also become unhealthy if the person cannot manage it.
He said that in some instances, childhood stress results in posttraumatic stress disorder, a mental health disease.
Some individuals mistake anger for hostility, he continued. In actuality, aggression is how some of us act when we are furious, whereas anger is an emotion that we experience.
Childhood trauma has been linked to rage and irritability in addition to anxiety and despair. Childhood trauma that has not been adequately processed can lead to hostility and antisocial personality traits as adults.
Children who have suffered trauma may internalize their rage rather than express it if they feel helpless to confront the people who caused them harm.
“In severe circumstances, trauma can result in post-traumatic stress disorder, a mental health disease.” Reliving the experience (via flashbacks or dreams), avoidance, anxiety, despair, rage, difficulties with trusting others, self-destructive or dangerous behaviors, and withdrawal are a few symptoms of PTSD.
Unresolved anger has been related to physical health issues like high blood pressure and heart disease, according to Dr. Jeje.
Some people, he continued, don’t recognize their anger issues as problems; rather, they see other people or things as the issue.
“Learning how to do breathing and relaxation exercises is just a couple of the things you can do to help if you ever discover that you have trouble controlling your emotions, especially anger.
“Breathing properly can lower your heart rate, which can help you feel more in control of the current circumstance.”
“Keeping a journal is always beneficial since it allows you to record events that happened and how they made you feel, as well as the intensity of your feelings at the time.
It has been proven that leaving a hostile situation, taking a deep breath of fresh air, and even getting some exercise by going for a walk can all be helpful.
It may be important to chat with your doctor, who may recommend some medications, if you discover that you still struggle to control your emotions. Additionally, a psychologist can refer you for talking therapy, which is a sort of anger control.
According to Dr. Aladejare, kids who are repeatedly exposed to traumatic experiences like violence, abuse, antagonism, and natural disasters may become chronically irritable and irate at the smallest provocation.
He emphasized that having a healthy family environment is important for a child’s overall growth and personality.
According to the mental health specialist, early parent separation, living in foster or institutional homes, or frequently witnessing domestic disputes may still have an impact on a person as they get older, particularly if they haven’t learned to deal with them.
“Such a person may have trouble controlling their emotions and having interpersonal connections work out.”
“When we are upset, stress hormones are usually released. As a result, our hearts, lungs, blood vessels, and other essential organs have to work harder than usual. As a result, we age more quickly and, in rare instances, may even get headaches, heart disease, hypertension, ulcers, and stroke.
Dr. Aladejare gave the following advice on how to control anger in an adult who had endured a terrible childhood: First, you need to come to terms with and recognize that you went through a traumatic incident and need to do something about it. This is due to the fact that these events frequently stay in one’s subconscious mind while also interfering with daily activities.
Next, a mental health professional’s intervention may be required for pertinent therapy, depending on the severity and importance of the event to the individual. This could entail, among other things, mentally going over the upsetting incidents or figuring out how to control the immediate trigger of the anger.
Researchers at the European Congress of Psychiatry conducted a study, and the results point to the fact that children who experienced emotional neglect have a greater propensity to become irritable or easily angered adults, whereas children who experienced physical abuse have a greater propensity to tilt towards anger attacks or antisocial personality traits.
The researchers carried out a multi-year investigation into the causes of depression and anxiety disorders using the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety, which started collecting data in 2004.
Nearly 2,300 people, aged 18 to 65, were enrolled in the study; their average age was 42, and 66% of them were female.
Earlier, the researchers found that, compared to 5% of a control group without depression or anxiety, more than 40% of patients with both anxiety and depression exhibited a propensity to become furious.
The researchers followed up four times over an eight-year period following a four-hour baseline evaluation to see whether there was any history of childhood trauma, such as parental bereavement, parental divorce, or being placed in foster care.
Participants were also questioned about abuse, including sexual, physical, and emotional abuse.
“We found that anxious or depressed people with a history of emotional neglect, physical abuse, or psychological abuse were between 1.3 and 2 times more likely to have anger problems,” said Nienke de Bles, the lead author and a PhD student at the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. Additionally, we discovered that the tendency toward adult anger was higher the more painful the childhood experience.
