When I Get Angry I See Red
Do you know your triggers?
I don’t really see red when angry, but when I reach emotional overload, my rational self disappears. However, there are physical responses generated by the autonomic nervous system. Blood pressure increases, breathing gets faster, and heart rate accelerates. A guy once described the feeling to me as a big, red, smoldering ball.
Emotional reactivity affects our mental health. When responses fall outside of accepted norms and reach a level considered over reactivity, symptoms may present as anxiety, depression, frustration, and anger as well as other manifestations of emotional dysregulation.
For instance, a middle-aged man, defending his frequent anger episodes, commented to me, “I have more than one personality.” He wasn’t talking Sybil-type multiple personalities, commonly known today as dissociative identity disorder (DID) but rather offering a justification for his blackout rages. Oh, and why he was recently arrested for aggravated assault. Kind of like a modern day, “the devil made me do it.”
I talked to him about triggers, irrational premises, and knee jerk reactions. But my commentary fell on deaf ears. He is an angry man, doesn't know why but proud of it regardless of the consequences. He is also depressed, sometimes suicidal, and subjected to periodic mood swings. I…
