10 Types of Anger: Everything You Should Know

Anger is a natural human emotion and can be expressed in different manners. Some people express it overtly, while others choose a more covert disposition to do so. One out of every four adults has been involved in a road rage incident.

Moreover, men are 3 times more likely to engage in aggressive behavior than women. People between the ages of 25 and 34 are responsible for 30% of all aggressiveness.

Ample research has been carried out to understand different anger types. Continue reading about what these 10 types of anger are, and assess what might be your personal style of expressing anger.

10 Different Types of Anger

There are different kinds of anger that people may face. Some of the most recognized types include:

1. Assertive Anger
2. Behavioral Anger
3. Chronic Anger
4. Judgemental Anger
5. Self Abusive/Harm Anger
6. Retaliatory Anger
7. Overwhelmed Anger
8. Volatile Anger
9. Verbal Anger
10. Passive Aggressive Anger

1. Assertive Anger

This is a constructive type of anger expression, and everyone should aspire to express their anger in this manner. This anger pattern type allows you to channel your anger into bringing a positive change without resorting to verbal or physical abuse.

For instance, when two spouses are angry at each other, they will not resort to shouting or violence, but sit and sensibly talk about their issues and expectations. This is pretty much the only way they can address the issue at hand and lead to a fruitful outcome without losing their calm and causing more harm to their relationship.

2. Behavioral Anger

Behavioral Anger is a destructive anger pattern type. It is when people resort to reacting physically to manifest their anger instead of venting out their emotions in a rational manner.

So, you might have seen this type of anger issue in violent spouses who break things or hit their partner when they feel furious even at small things.

3. Chronic Anger

Chronic Anger is one of the destructive types of anger expressions. It is when people hold on to their anger and instead of venting it out once and for all, they harbor their feelings of resentment. It is not a fleeting emotion. Rather, they feel this constant sense of bitterness and frustration with the people around them, the circumstances, or themselves.

You can imagine what a sad state this is to live in. Chronic Anger doesn’t only lead to perpetual sadness and annoyance, but can also cause negative effects on one’s mental and physical health. It could result in increased anxiety, depression, gastrointestinal problems, blood pressure issues, and even heart attack or stroke.

4. Judgemental Anger

Judgemental Anger is one of the destructive types of anger and causes one to pass an immediate judgment on the other person involved in the anger-inducing situation. It could either genuinely be because of the other person’s fault or arises just from the internalized sense of superiority.

This is a common anger pattern type. You must have seen a colleague or a friend who simply can’t accept that they could be at fault. Whenever something goes wrong and they feel angry, their first instinct is to pass judgment on how all of it happened because of the other person and they did absolutely nothing wrong.

5. Self-Abusive/Harm Anger

Self Abusive or Harm Anger is a highly destructive type of anger. It is when the individual is not allowed to express their anger and learn to direct it inwards.

They begin to subject themselves to hate and anger and do so by talking negatively about themselves, physically harming themselves, doing substance abuse, or indulging in excessive eating.

6. Retaliatory Anger

This type of anger expression pattern entails the instinctive response of showcasing a more vehement expression of anger when someone states that they feel angry or hurt. When someone confronts them, they feel that they have been wronged and retaliate aggressively.

You might have experienced this with a friend. When you share that they hurt you, they retaliate and instead of feeling sorry for their behavior, they become adamant that they are the one who has been wronged and deserve an apology.

7. Overwhelmed Anger

Overwhelmed Anger is also one of the destructive types of anger. It is an uncontrolled expression, where you feel a constant feeling of hopelessness and frustration when an unforeseen or unmanageable situation comes up. This is the common type of anger expression for people who are emotionally outstretched.

For instance, you might have seen a working single mother who is constantly worked up and feel there is no hope even at minor challenges.

8. Volatile Anger

Volatile Anger is a highly destructive anger issue. It seems to pop up out of nowhere. Things are going fine until the person just blows up and a small thing. They cool down just as quickly as they get riled up.

This is one of the most destructive types of anger issues as it causes people around you to be constantly conscious to not call upon your wrath. You might have seen a higher-up who is fine and acts all friendly until they lose all calm at a small mistake and then go back to being normal instantly afterward.

9. Verbal Anger

Verbal Anger is when a person abuses verbally to express their anger. They shout, scream, taunt, ridicule, and criticize without resorting to harming physically. Although they don’t cause physical harm, verbal anger results in significant emotional trauma and can leave the person who was lashed out with severe trust and self-esteem issues.

You must know a person who has this type of anger expression and feels remorseful after they have said extremely hurtful things in an abhorrent tone and manner.

10. Passive-Aggressive Anger

You may be thinking of someone who says they are not angry but then go around giving you the silent treatment, ignoring you, stomping their feet, and clanking crockery.

Passive Aggressive Anger type consists of a non-confrontational yet aggressive expression of anger. When the person feels angry, they will not talk about it or lash out impulsively, but rather keep the bitterness inside. This would seep out in sarcastic remarks, mockery, or discomforting silence.

How to Manage Different Types of Anger?

Just like every other human emotion, anger too can be managed. If not controlled and expressed appropriately, anger can cause irrevocable damage to your personal and professional life. Here are some ways to manage anger:

1. Find out the Cause: Reflect upon and understand the cause of your anger. Once you understand what is causing this emotion in you, you can try to resolve that conflict.
2. Take a Time-Out When You Feel Angry: The destructive types of anger are manifested in an impulse. When you feel a fury rising inside you, stand and leave that situation. Take deep breaths and look at the situation subjectively. When you have cooled down and gotten perspective, you can deal with your anger maturely.
3. Learn Communication Techniques: Destructive anger is often caused by the failure to communicate what is causing distress or hurt to you in an effective manner. When you learn to do this in an amicable manner, you do not have to resort to verbal or physical abuse to make people listen to you.
4. Take an Online Management Course: There is only so much that you can do yourself. Sometimes, you just need professional guidance. If you have unsuccessfully tried to manage your anger problems, you can try taking an online anger management class.
   
   Through these courses, you will learn how to identify triggers that lead to your anger, how to cope with your anger in a healthy way, and how to communicate effectively to resolve conflict. With the help of these courses, you can take control of your anger and stress, and improve your overall well-being.

Conclusion

If let loose, uncontrolled anger can cause destruction to yourself and others around you. Therefore, it is essential to understand your anger expression pattern and learn how to deal with it. In this blog, we shed light upon the 10 different types of anger problems and hope that you can now recognize them in yourself and in other people.

If you are dealing with anger issues and want to help yourself, you can try taking online anger management courses. We have listed a few that have given commendable results.