Stress and Anger

Stress and Anger

Stress and Anger have always been related with each other. There have been countless studies, even more theories, about stress and anger and how they relate. But, no matter how many studies are conducted, there will always be the questions about whether or not stress and anger are related. But, I am here to provide the facts on both stress and anger, and then allow you, as the reader, to determine the relationship, because all-in-all, I feel that stress and anger can and cant be related, depending on the circumstance.

If psychologists completely understood how stress and fears developed, we would know how to produce and reduce a phobia or an anxiety state. We don't. There seems to be a wide variety of life experiences which result in some form of stress, fear, anxiety, or psychosomatic illness. It would be convenient if life were simpler but it isn't. Perhaps a summary will help you review the ways you might become stressed and anxious

Changes, such as sudden trauma, several big crises, or many small daily hassles, cause stress. Intense stress years earlier, especially in childhood, can predispose us to over-react to current stress. Events, such as barriers and conflicts that prevent the changes and goals we want, create stress. Having little control over our lives, e.g. being "on the assembly line" instead of the boss, contrary to popular belief, often increases stress and illness. Many environmental factors, including excessive or impossible demands, noise, boring or lonely work, stupid rules, unpleasant people, etc., cause stress. Conflicts in our interpersonal relationships cause stress directly and can eventually cause anxieties and emotional disorders.

The human body has different ways of responding to stress; one quick responding nerve-hormonal system involving adrenaline, another long-lasting system involving cortisol, and perhaps others. These systems not only determine the intensity of our anxiety reactions but also our attitudes, energy level, depression, and physical health after the stressful events are over. As individuals, our nervous systems differ; however, according to Richard Dienstbier at the University of Nebraska, we may be able to modify our unique physiological reactions by learning coping skills. The genetic, constitutional, and intrauterine factors influence stress. Some of us may have been born "nerv...

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...nd anti-social behavior. It is also known that a viral infection, called rabies, causes violent behavior. About 90% of women report being irritable before menstruation. Furthermore, 50% of all crimes by women in prison occurred during their menstrual period or premenstrual period. By chance only 29% of crimes would have occurred during those eight days. Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) increases during the premenstrual period and it causes irritability.

In all of these possibilities--instinct, heredity, hormones, or brain dysfunction--the aggression occurs without apparent provocation from the environment (although there is almost always a "target"). According to some of these theories, the need or urge to be aggressive is boiling within each of us and seeks opportunities to express itself. There is also clear evidence that alcohol consumption and hotter temperatures release aggression, but no one thinks there is something in alcohol or heat that generates meanness. The socialization process, i.e. becoming a mature person, involves taming these destructive, savage, self-serving urges that probably helped us humans survive one million years ago but threatens our survival today.