#Angry emotion how to#

Consider using writing prompts to process this and other strong emotions.

It may allow you to say what you want to say - without actually saying it to someone. Writing can also be a great alternative for getting angry feelings out. This may help you find an outlet for your emotions without overwhelming others. Try learning about the circle of grief and sharing the information with your loved ones. “It’s perfectly common to feel anger after a loss and during the grieving process.” 2. “Some people feel anger more intensely than others but it’s important to see it as a normal part of the grieving process to help reduce the shame, guilt, and stigma surrounding such a strong emotion,” says Santan. When you feel angry, being critical of yourself for feeling the way you do may only make you feel worse.Īnger is an emotion like any other, and like other emotions, expressing it in controlled ways is healthy. Instead, try to find ways to cope with grief while managing anger. “Almost everyone who goes through the grieving process will feel anger at one point or another,” he says. According to Santan, anger and grief are inseparable. It can make you feel guilty for expressing your emotions in a way your culture may view as inappropriate.īut it’s natural to feel angry. Sometimes feeling angry can make you feel angrier.

#Angry emotion how to#

How to cope with your anger when grieving “It might be because being preoccupied with anger prevents a person from dealing with the pain associated with their loss,” she says. “A predominantly angry response can interfere with resolving your grief.”īallard says some research supports the idea that a high level of sustained anger after a loss is associated with prolonged grief. “Prolonged grief often results when there is something interfering with the grieving person’s ability to process their feelings associated with the loss,” says Ballard. It may also be possible that if anger is your primary emotion during mourning, it could lead to prolonged grief disorder. It’s possible for someone with complicated grief to experience anger for a long time. Research suggests between 1.2% and 1.5% of the population experiences this condition. Prolonged grief disorder (PGD), also known as complicated grief, refers to living with grief for a long time without experiencing improvement in the severity of your grieving emotions. “For example, when a person now has to deal with life on their own since a loved one has died, they might feel overwhelmed and angry at being ‘left’ on their own.”īallard explains Kübler-Ross and Kessler developed this model for insight purposes, not as a guideline on how to grieve.ĭoes anger mean you’re experiencing prolonged grief disorder? “Someone also might feel angry at the situation,” adds Ballard. “It’s also common to feel angry at the person who died, depending on the circumstances.” “Someone might feel angry at the unfairness of the universe or God, for taking their loved one away from them,” she says. Ballard, PhD, a clinical psychologist from Jerusalem, Georgia, how someone feels anger can depend on the situation.

But, anger is recognized as a common and early step in the grieving process for many people.Īccording to Roberta T. Not everyone experiences all of these stages of grief, or in the same order. Their framework explained grief as an experience lived through 5 emotional stages: One of the most popular models to understand grief was pioneered by psychiatrist Elizabeth Kübler-Ross and her associate David Kessler. How long it takes, and how you work through loss, can be unique to your personality and experiences. In some cases, anger may be a symptom of a mental health condition like intermittent explosive disorder (IED), activated by intense grief. Everyone experiences and reacts to loss in a different way. There’s also no “should” in the grieving process. This could lead them to feel anger before other emotions and possibly more intensely, too.įeeling anger during grief doesn’t mean you’re not sad about your loss, even if it seems like anger is the only emotion you’re feeling. Santan adds that some people may be more prone to anger during grieving due to genetic, personality, or experiential factors. “Most people feel both sadness and anger during the grieving process, but for many people, anger is such a strong emotion that it overshadows other emotions such as sadness,” explains Brandon Santan, PhD, a board-certified counselor from Chattanooga, Tennessee. In fact, “bereavement anger” is a phrase commonly used to describe the intense, angry feeling associated with facing an important loss. You can be angry and sad at the same time. You may also experience it simultaneously with other emotions. Sadness is a part of grieving but not the only one.