How to Control and Prevent Anger in Men

Anger is a natural emotion, but when left unmanaged it can have a detrimental impact on our well-being, relationships, and overall quality of life.

In Part 4, we’ll cover long-term strategies to manage and reduce anger. We’ll also provide practical tips to incorporate these strategies into our daily routines in a sustainable manner.

The more we practice these strategies (when we’re not angry), the more prepared we’ll be to deal with a potentially triggering situation.

Approaches to Managing Anger In the Long Term

There are many ways we can work on managing our anger, some of which we’ve already touched on in earlier parts of the course.

Here is an overview of different strategies we can take. The more we are able to practice and implement these strategies, the greater their effect will be.

General Lifestyle Changes

These include:

Eating healthy and staying hydrated
Getting quality sleep
Being social and strengthening relationships
Getting enough physical activity

Being physically active can be especially important for preventing anger. A study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise found that 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity aerobic physical activity helped to prevent anger.^[1]

The study also noted that physical activity can have a preventative effect, likening physical activity before a potentially anger-inducing event to taking an antacid before eating a spicy meal. ^[2]

We have pages with practical tips related to general lifestyle changes in our Essentials section, which will guide you through making positive changes that can help you feel well more generally, while also helping you be better positioned to regulate tough emotions like anger more effectively.

Specific Skills and Tactics

Beyond general lifestyle changes, there are strategies that are more specific to managing stress and anger (which often overlap or contribute to each other).

These will help to ease our anger, reduce the frequency and intensity of it, and respond to whatever challenges we face in a more positive manner.

Part 4 will guide us through:

Effective Communication and Conflict Resolution Skills

To improve our communication skills, including active listening and assertiveness, so we can better express our feelings and needs without aggression.
To help us avoid bottling up emotions, and instead share concerns and frustrations in a more constructive way.

Increasing Self Awareness Through Tracking Our Anger

To identify and reduce sources of stress in our life, such as work or relationship issues.
To help gauge our progress and improve motivation to stick with the strategies that work best for us.

Managing Angry Thoughts

To identify, challenge, and reconstruct irrational or exaggerated thoughts that contribute to anger.

Mindfulness for Anger and Stress Management

To implement stress-reduction techniques, building off the skills of deep breathing & progressive muscle relaxation we did in Part 3. Handling Anger in the Moment.
To gain better awareness of our anger and respond less reactively to it.

Let’s get started.

References

Thom, N. J., O’Connor, P. J., Clementz, B. A., & Dishman, R. K. (2019). Acute Exercise Prevents Angry Mood Induction but Does Not Change Angry Emotions. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 51(7), 1451–1459. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000001922
Yu, C. (2023, January). Exercise and anger: How to work out safely when you’re angry | Livestrong. livestrong.com. https://www.livestrong.com/article/13727195-exercise-anger/

Managing Anger In the Long Run

Controlling and Preventing Our Anger