November 11, 2021

How Uncontrolled Anger Can Hurt Your Family

Anger is a natural stress response and can be a helpful emotion. But ignoring it can be unhealthy and uncontrollable anger becomes a problem when it causes someone to do dangerous and harmful things they may regret.

The anger that one person feels can hurt the entire family. It might be aimed at another family member—or it might be aimed back at themselves. Either way, it has consequences on the mental, emotional and physical health of the family.

How Anger Affects Family Relationships

When a person overreacts to situations with anger, they may display aggressive behavior and outraged verbal outbursts. These rage-filled episodes may lead to heated arguments, physical fights, threats and even property damage. The family members at home during these explosions suffer emotionally, mentally and physically.

Studies have shown that children who grow up around rage-filled behavior tend to become less empathetic and more aggressive. Kids that grow up in anger-filled environments also have lower self-esteem, suffer more from social isolation and experience long-term depression and anxiety. Without other role models, they repeat that angry behavior. If the cycle is not broken, they’re more likely to grow into adults with the same inability to control their rage, which can hurt their personal and professional relationships.

However, the people witnessing the explosive outburst are not the only ones suffering physically and emotionally. The one feeling anger will likely have increased blood pressure, heart palpitations or tightening of the chest and tension in the head. And if their rage remains unresolved, it can lead to anxiety, sleep disorders, increased risk for stroke, problems with concentration and memory, headaches and muscle tension.

Getting Help for Anger

If you or someone you know shows patterns of uncontrollable anger, the good news is that there are ways we can help. By understanding what causes the rage, you can either avoid or gain control of triggers.

Many people think that anger management programs teach you how to suppress your anger. Actually, the goal is to explore what’s behind your anger and whether these outbursts are just ways to mask other feelings like shame, insecurity, hurt or embarrassment.

If anger is harming your relationship with your family, we have anger management training and resources. We can work with you and your family.

We also have training available for individuals or groups and partners in the community. If your office or group (church group, civic group, sorority, fraternity, school group, club, etc.) would like anger management training, contact us today.

If you have an emergency, please call 911, go to your nearest emergency room or call 1-866-837-7521 to be connected to Communicare’s mobile crisis team, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.