How Can Anger Effect Your Decision Making
Anger is a common emotion that is experienced as a response to other negative emotions such as frustration, sadness, or humiliation. Feeling angry is an indication of your sensitivity to your surroundings and can be healthy if it is managed properly.
Anger impacts how we react to the people and things around us, and so plays an important role in our decision-making ability. If it is kept in check and channeled positively, it can enable us to make better decisions and have fewer regrets about the choices that we make.
However, anger can be dangerous if it is excessive and is not dealt with promptly. This is because extreme anger in one situation can give you a negative perspective about other things in life, thus impacting the choices that you make when faced with a problem. Moreover, anger can also impact your emotional and physical health.
It is therefore vital to learn how anger can affect your decision-making process.
ways that they do this is by making individuals accountable for any decision that they make and having them give a justification for their actions.
For example, some companies make sure their employees are not under the effect by anger at work by questioning any decisions they may have taken about a certain project.
Long-Term Anger Effects
Anger that is experienced persistently, even in trivial situations can have negative effects on your decision-making, your physical health, and your mental health.
Many researches have been carried out on the long-term effects of anger. The following table shows how the attitudes and well-being of those individuals who are held accountable (i.e., those who undergo anger management) are different from those who cannot control their anger in the long run.
| Unanswerable Individuals | Answerable Individuals |
| Decisions are driven by emotions | Decisions are driven by facts |
| Look at the situation from their perspective | Look at the situation holistically |
| Blame others for wronging them | Are self-critical and avoid blaming others |
| Have frequent headaches, increase in blood pressure, muscle tension, and skin and digestive problems. | Are healthier and do not suffer from frequent cases of headaches, increases in blood pressure, muscle tension, and skin and digestive problems. |
| Suffer more often from insomnia | Are able to sleep well |
| Are more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression, and irritability | Have better mental health |
3 The Most Important Negative Effects of Anger in the Long Run
1 – Decision Making
Research suggests that individuals who are angry react differently from those who are calm. The choices they make thus vary. In the long run, people who suffer from persistent rage, make decisions based on the negativity of their emotions. They assume the worst and take extreme action, without considering the possibility of a more logical alternative.
Moreover, they look at situations from a biased perspective. They absolve themselves of any blame and instead focus on others as wrongdoers. It is necessary to understand that decisions made in anger can ruin your life and hence you must learn to control yourself.
2 – Physical Health
Another long-term effect of anger is poor physical health. People who experience persistent anger issues suffer from headaches and high blood pressure. They feel like their bodies are always tense and they develop skin problems (like eczema) and indigestion.
On the other hand, people who are well aware of the threat that anger poses and keep themselves in check, are less likely to suffer from physical health issues.
3 – Mental Health
Anger can have deep-rooted impacts on your mental well-being. People who are unable to control their anger may develop anxiety disorders and depression.
They feel irritable, and restless and lose their sense of hope in life. The intensity of their emotions makes it difficult for them to sleep and they also lose their appetite. This in turn impacts their physical health.
Mental health disorders are long term and individuals have to fight hard against them. To prevent yourself from falling victim to them you must learn the importance of anger management.
How Can You Control Your Anger from Effecting Decisions?
Anger can have long-lasting impacts on your well-being, especially when it comes to decision-making. You will be faced with many choices in life, both big and small. You must make your choice carefully because it will determine your future. Don’t take decisions when you’re angry because it will impact your judgment.
Instead, learn how to manage your temper and keep yourself in check. Here are 6 ways you can control your rage:
- Take Deep Breaths
- Walk Away
- Self Talk
- Meditation and Exercise
- Talk to Someone
- Opt for Online Anger Management
1 – Take Deep Breaths
Deep breathing is one of the most effective ways to calm yourself down in a moment of anger. It increases oxygen flow to your brain and relaxes your nerves, allowing your mind to clear and enabling you to think more logically. You can use any one of the breathing techniques that you know, and once you feel calm, then make your decisions.
One of the breathing techniques you can follow is to step away from the situation, close your eyes and inhale deeply. Imagine yourself smelling a flower. Hold your breath for a few moments, and then slowly exhale. This time, imagine that you are blowing out a candle. After a few deep breaths, you will realize that you feel much calmer.
2 – Walk Away
Another way in which you can cope with anger at the moment is by walking away from the situation and allowing yourself some time to retrospect, self-reflect, and calm down. Walking away does not necessarily mean that you should physically move out of the space. In fact, it can also mean that you remain quiet or divert your mind towards something else.
When you sit with your anger for a while and allow your brain to process your emotions more logically, you may realize that your anger was unjustified. This will allow you to be more careful of how you react the next time you are irritated and make your decisions with a clear mind.
3 – Self Talk
Self-talk and positive affirmations are effective in dealing with anger. If you feel angry then you must try to calm down by telling yourself “it’s okay”, “I can do this”, “I can control myself”, etc. When these affirmations counter the anger that is building up in your head, they allow you to distract yourself from the heat of the situation and focus on the more positive aspect of dealing with it.
Through self-talk, you can prevent yourself from showing physical or verbal aggression thereby preventing the possibility of hurting those around you. Once you are able to calm yourself, you will be able to think more clearly and find other solutions to your problem.
4 – Meditation and Exercise
If you feel persistently angry, meditation and yoga are helpful tools to calm you down. This is because they release feel-good hormones in your body and counter the anger that clouds your judgment.
Meditation doesn’t require hours from your day, so you can easily find a time to fit it into your schedule, whether it is early morning or right before you sleep.
You can listen to any one of the several guided meditations available online on platforms such as YouTube. Through these videos, you will learn to retrain your brain and enable it to learn more healthy ways of coping with overwhelming emotions such as anger. The gist is that you must engage yourself in some anger management exercises so that your mind gets distracted and anger loses its intensity.
5 – Talk to Someone
Improving your communication and talking to people can help you manage your anger better. When a situation bothers you and makes you angry, it is always helpful if you talk to someone close to you whether it is a friend, partner, or parent. Talking allows you to let out your frustration and think clearly. You may even come out of it with some good advice.
You can also manage your anger by talking to the person you may be having a problem with. Rather than exploding on them, you can sit down and listen to their side of the story. This may help in making you realize that you were overreacting and that their view is valid. Once you get an alternate perspective, you can make better judgments.
6 – Opt for Anger Management Course
If you feel like your anger is persistent and is constantly coming in the way of your decision-making process, feel free to reach out for help. One of the most effective ways to do this is by enrolling in online anger management classes. These classes are designed especially to help you fight your rage and give you useful tips to keep yourself in check.
You can check out the court-ordered anger classes and the ones specially designed for teenagers.
Conclusion
Anger is a common emotion, but if it is not channeled positively, it can have negative impacts on your mental and physical health as well as your ability to make decisions. Many researches have been carried out on the effects of anger and they show that people who are answerable to someone else for their decisions control their anger and try to think rationally.
Organizations are well aware of the fact that individuals go through different hurdles in their work and private lives and that they can fall victim to anger. This in turn can prevent them from thinking clearly. These organizations aim to teach people how anger damages decision-making and help them overcome their anger rage.
There are multiple ways in which you can keep your temper under control. Some of the most effective tips that you can rely on are deep breaths, self-talk, and enrolling in online anger management courses.
Dr. Carlos Todd PhD LCMHC specializes in anger management, family conflict resolution, marital and premarital conflict resolution. His extensive knowledge in the field of anger management may enable you to use his tested methods to deal with your anger issues.
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