How To Stop Letting Other People’s Anger Control You
Anyone who's ever dealt with serious, explosive anger, either their own or someone else's, knows it's not fun. It ravages the mind and body, leaving all parties involved exhausted, weary, and, truthfully, nervous.
When anger becomes a chronic problem, it can deeply affect one's relationships and mental health. It can be tough to escape someone else's anger, to not let it influence your life anymore, but there are ways to make it happen and properly free yourself from the grip that anger holds.
A feeling that someone else's anger often conjures up is that of fear. We react fearfully to anger, especially if it's been weaponized against us before. Fear can greatly limit our lives, preventing us from flourishing into our fully realized selves.
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Anger's Impact
Anger is one of the most influential and passionate emotions there is. It's strong, it takes over the mind and body, and it can wreak havoc on relationships if not managed properly. It's a natural response that isn't bad on its own, but it can be used for manipulative purposes, scaring others into submission with threats of shouting or violence.
Too many of us have been under the control of someone else's anger this way. To release yourself from its grasp, you must first deconstruct it and really understand the mind of the angry person. This process of deconstruction allows us to understand the root causes of the anger and effectively address them using our own strength and power. Here's how to do so.
Call And Response
The first step in deconstructing someone else's anger is to recognize the signs of escalation. This involves paying close attention to not only the other person's body language, tone of voice, and the specific words being used but also the events prior that triggered these reactions in the first place.
By identifying these triggers early, we can prevent the situation from escalating further, turning them away from whatever angers them so they can't work themselves up. It's also important to understand our own responses to anger, as our reactions can either diffuse or exacerbate the situation.
Truly Listening
Active listening is crucial when dealing with someone who is angry. It involves giving your full attention to the person, acknowledging their feelings without judgment, and reflecting back on what you've heard to ensure understanding. You don't want to fight with them, but you don't want to nurse the anger either. By being compassionate, their anger is more likely to fizzle out.
This approach not only helps in deescalating the situation but also makes the other person feel heard and valued, which is often all they need to start calming down.
Empathic Soul
Empathy plays a significant role in deconstructing anger. Trying to understand the situation from the other person's perspective can provide valuable insights into why they're feeling angry in the first place. This doesn't mean you have to agree with them or encourage their anger response, but acknowledging their feelings as valid can help in finding common ground and moving toward a resolution.
It also serves as a reminder that their anger doesn't come from nowhere. It's often the result of many compounded issues that build and build until someone can't take it anymore. By understanding the other person's struggles, you'll see that their anger isn't totally baseless.
Drawing The Line
While it's important to be empathetic, it's equally important to set healthy boundaries with the angry person. This means communicating your own needs, limits, and worries about their behavior. Let the other person know what is acceptable and what isn't in terms of how they express their anger toward you.
Setting boundaries is crucial to maintaining respect and ensuring that your relationship is not negatively impacted by recurring episodes of anger. If you care enough about this person to want to fix your relationship, you have to stand up for yourself first. Your health and sanity should always be your main focus.
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More To See
Often, anger is just the tip of the iceberg, with deeper issues lying beneath the surface. Engaging in open and honest dialogue can help uncover these underlying causes. Whether it's a misunderstanding, unmet expectations, or past grievances, addressing the root cause is key to resolving the anger and preventing similar issues in the future.
This relates directly to the point about remaining empathetic, but this step is more practical. While being empathetic helps you understand why someone's mad, addressing the issues helps resolve the issue that causes the anger in the first place, preventing future outbreaks.
Making A Gameplan
After addressing the issues, it's time to come up with strategies for the future. Someone who has chronic anger issues will take time to heal, even if all the issues causing the anger have been resolved, so knowing how to cope with the feeling will help them manage it whenever it bubbles up again.
This might involve establishing clearer communication channels, setting regular check-ins to discuss any concerns, or agreeing on specific cues to indicate when someone needs a time-out to cool down. By learning from each conflict, you can strengthen the relationship and reduce the likelihood of anger taking control again.
Protecting Yourself
Let's not forget one of the most important parts, taking care of yourself. Dealing with others' anger can be emotionally draining, so it's extremely important to practice self-care and seek support when needed. This could be talking to a friend, engaging in activities that you enjoy, or seeking professional help if the situation becomes too overwhelming.
In order to be able to support others, you have to be able to support yourself. Trying to take on others' burdens when you're barely staying afloat will only ensure that you drown in everyone's sorrows.
Under No One's Control
While wanting to help someone work through their anger is valiant, you have to be sure that you're doing it for the right reasons. Is this person's anger something that you see they struggle with independently, or is it something they deliberately use to control you? Is it something that you're merely in the crossfire of, or are you the intended target?
Anger that's being used to bully you into submission is not worth trying to salvage. That person is harming you on purpose, so they don't deserve your kindness. If it's a friend who means well but deals with a lot and you're simply around for it, that's something that can be managed and healed from should you want to help them. Don't put yourself in harm's way for somebody else's sake
In the end, someone's feelings are their own to deal with, and while you can want to help, you shouldn't do so at the expense of your own sanity.
