How angry are you?
 
This article is a short guide that will help you discover if your anger is a problem for you and if you need to seek for professional advice.
 
Anger is a normal emotion, in response to feelings of sadness, irritation or frustration. Although it's normal to feel it sometimes, when does it become a problem?
Read on and answer the following questions to see how angry you are and if you need help. Get pen and paper!
• How often do you get angry? Is it almost every day? Frequency is a very important factor, since it shows that the problem may be you and not what is happening around you.
• Is your anger very intense? The degree of your anger is not at all related to the source for your anger. And it can become a real problem in the end.
• What do you do when you are angry? If anger management is a problem, then you may lose your temper and harm someone either verbally or physically.
• Is anger affecting your relationships with other people? Your lack of communication skills and your angry reactions damages the people around you, and you may end up losing your partner or your job.
• Have you any health related issues, such as severe headaches, tension, stress? Anger can provoke a nasty stomach ulcer, or tension headaches. Stress is a common source for anger bursts. In that case, there are two problems that you need to address.
• Do you feel disconnected, like people do not understand you? People who have anger management issues usually feel they don't know how to connect with people and they find it difficult to express their emotions.
• Do you need to scream, curse, throw things or hit people when you are angry? Sadly, infuriated people can end up being aggressive, and even violent. If you are aggressive or fear you may be, then seek immediate help.
• What are the main sources of anger? What makes you feel like this? If you can identify the reason for your outburst you will be able to manage your emotions better.
• Do you find it difficult to express your feelings and opinions? Lack of communication is a problem when you let them out in a tantrum.
• Do you feel frustrated or irritable most of the time? Frustration is a great source of anger. Then, is frustration what you need to address first.
• Have other people told you that anger may be a problem? If everybody else is noticing, then don't get angry at them, but act upon!
• Do you get angry at people when you are angry at another thing? Transferring your frustration about a personal situation or emotion to a person is, sadly, quite common. Developing strategies to identify what the real source for your feeling is, will help you taking it to your family members or friends.
Answer these questions and take your time to reflect about your answers. Don't forget to write your answers down, in fact, looking at them on paper will make things take some perspective. Talking about perspective, why don't you make someone you care answer these questions about you? Feedback from a loved one will help a lot. Do you need professional help or simply some anger management tips?
 
Only you will know the truth, but if you feel you do, don't hesitate and act before it is too late.