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Can you control your anger ?

BBC Africa HYS Team|14:11 UK time, Wednesday, 12 May 2010

I suspect at some point in your life you've witnessed politicians or public figures in your country losing their cool and flaring up in anger.

For example the countless stories of MP's exchanging blows and throwing chairs at each other during heated debates. Does this influence your opinion of them, after all, don't we all lose our tempers from time to time? For example when we're stuck in traffic and everyone is shouting and blaring their horns.

It's not a pleasant experience and anger is an emotion that many people struggle with. Controversial South African politician Julius Malema has been told to undergo anger management by the ruling ANC for bringing the party into disrepute with his recent comments and behaviour.



In the past anger management classes have been used to rehabilitate Niger Delta militants, and Ugandan youths affected by the conflict in North. Would these classes be be useful in resolving domestic as well as international disputes? Would more education about anger and how to express it healthily help you?

What makes you angry, and how do you express it? Have you developed your own technique of coping with it? Is it ever appropriate to display your anger or have you been victim of someone else's anger?

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Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    I have not been to anger management classes but my place of work sent me to a Anger Management expert called Claire Hegarty. They were worried about me because i was getting stressed at work and was becoming angry. They were really good about it and felt that i could cause my self a heart attack by stressing out all the tie and getting angry. I really did not notice that it was affecting my work and i did not really feel i had a problem. I thought everyone shouts once in a while but then i understood that it was more of a daily occurance.

    If you do have a problem or if someone says to you that you have a problem with your anger, do not dismiss it, think about it first and do what i did. I did not believe that i had a problem so my bosses said to me to keep a dairy for a week everytime i shouted or felt a bit annoyed, and when i looked at the diary after a week, i found out that i did have a problem, but i do not know. It was one of the best things that i could have done seeing a anger management therapy expert, even my doctor says that i am better for it and my blood pressure is down

  • Comment number 2.

    Yes, I can control my anger in a very simple way. If i notice that the issue or situation is getting to a point of irritating, i will simply move out/ or excuse myself because in anger nothing is acheived only but destruction. It take someone special knowledge to understand when he gets to the point that irked him .

  • Comment number 3.

    Anger exhibition is a an emotional response that eternalizes or personalizes issues. It may be influenced by others or it may be just a persona not able to separate issue, emotions, pragmatism and objectivity.
    Many of us are driven by personal ego protection and I want to advocate soberness of mind as we encounter discussions.

  • Comment number 4.

    This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

  • Comment number 5.

    When a politician looses control of himself then he becomes a untrained mad elephant with ego, strength and above the law. The best way to contain such behavior is to get rid of the person immediately, it should be in the books of the law that there has to be total respectful behavior in the parliament.

  • Comment number 6.

    Yes we can cotrol anger. Simple by ignoring situation you think can drives you in to anger.

  • Comment number 7.

    Anger is an instinctive action. Instinct is necessary as it drives to intellect. But instinctive action need to be controlled by the individuals as it may damage their reputation especially when the culture of that society does not require.
    To me, instinctive action emanates from heart while intellectual from mind! Do I go wrong?

  • Comment number 8.

    This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

  • Comment number 9.

    This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

  • Comment number 10.

    I am talking from experience; after you have been beat-up yes there is no doubt in my mind that you can control not only your anger but calmness as well.

  • Comment number 11.

    If the other guy is going to sue you can surely show less anger.

  • Comment number 12.

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  • Comment number 13.

    This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

  • Comment number 14.

    All this user's posts have been removed.Why?

  • Comment number 15.

    Anger is a common world wide phenomenon and unfortunately a part of our daily life. It is either us or others who catch the frequency of anger heat irritation waves that collectively affect our lives in a negative way, be it that we get angry on someone or vice versa. Personally I have often been a victim on both sides. After trying out many things like sports, swimming, travelling etc, I found that silent meditation helped me the most. The biggest mantra for mastering anger and regaining self-control is “I forgive”. It may look hard to put in practise but most simple to say it. Whenever I find myself in a conflicting situation, I just say “I forgive” a few times silently and then the situation changes or I find a solution. It is not about being passive but actively demonstrating mastery over one self and the situation. Something with Jesus taught and practised and Mahatma Gandhi freed one of the world’s biggest democracy from tyranny. Meditation practise helps us to improve the ability to forgive from inside without having to exhibit artificial external behaviour.

    [Unsuitable/Broken URL removed by Moderator]Forgiveness is truly a self-empowering phenomena!

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