People have repressed anger because of situations where they felt upset, stressed, or like they were being taken advantage of. People who live with repressed anger do not know what their anger feels like and make statements like, “I never get angry” because they are unaware they are feeling it. Repressed anger is anger that is unintentionally avoided by a person who grew up in a dysfunctional home to keep from feeling uncomfortable feelings related to the past. Many other effects tell you that you are angry too many to list here. You suddenly need to go to the restroom.You experience a pounding, rapid heartbeat.Managing anger is vital to a person’s mental and physical health.Īnger feels different to different people, but below are some physical and emotional effects that tell you that you are angry. They learn healthy ways to recognize anger and deal with it. Most folks experience anger and can manage it like any other emotion. When our safety is threatened, anger prepares us to defend ourselves by giving us an extra burst of energy as part of the fight/flight/freeze response. Anger helps us identify problems that may hurt us, motivates us to change, and keeps us moving toward our goals. You might feel anger when you experience or feel:Īnger is not a destructive emotion deserving of punishment instead, it is a valuable emotion that helps us cope with our ever-changing world. Unexpressed anger, as we shall see later, becomes repressed but does not disappear - instead, it goes underground.Īs stated, when expressed appropriately, anger is a normal emotion. These children will grow up with unexpressed anger seething below the surface and haunting their adult lives. The expression of healthy anger by children in a dysfunctional home is forbidden and even dangerous. Relationships in the dysfunctional home are tense and filled with yelling, screaming, and out-of-control anger. If you now live with complex post-traumatic stress disorder in your life, you likely lived in a dysfunctional home as a child.Ī dysfunctional home is characterized by adult family members being subject to conflict, misbehavior, neglect, or abuse perpetrated against their children. This article will be no different as we explore repressed anger, its reasons, and how to mitigate its effects on your life. Much has been written about anger and how it is sometimes repressed because it is not safe to express it, such as in a dysfunctional home. Anger is a way for us to tell if we are in danger and allows us to respond quickly. Anger is a healthy emotion that all humans experience.