Judging when someone else has an anger problem is usually pretty obvious, but knowing when you are the one who has anger issues is another story. Especially if you are someone who struggles with flash anger who feels fine and peaceful most of the time but will fly off the handle in a second. You may think that because you are calm 99 percent of the time, you don’t have any anger issues but do those fleeting moments of rage or “flash anger” amount to something that requires some personal work? It turns out, yes, they do.
What Is Flash Anger?
It helps to understand what flash anger is by thinking of anger in terms of a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being no anger and 10 being extreme rage. Typically, people hover very low on the scale and may jump somewhere between a 3 or 5 following a rude remark or stressful situation. When we make quick jumps on the scale, we physically feel the effects of this change and sense our irritation. The difference between this common experience with anger and those dealing with flash anger is that those struggling with flash anger already spend their day on the upper-medium side of the scale around a 6 or 7 without realizing it.
A person with flash anger doesn’t know they are going about daily life angry all of the time until an event triggers them to bump up to a 10 on the scale, still jumping the same 2 to 3 points as others do but from a much higher starting point. The reason that people with flash anger start at these higher starting points varies from one person to the next, but all of them lack the awareness of their already high levels of anger because they have been used to carrying around so much subliminal anger daily for likely years.
Is There A Solution For Flash Anger?
Just because you suffer from flash anger doesn’t mean you can’t get better. By attacking it from two angles, awareness and deep work, you can begin to have more stable anger responses. First, build awareness of the underlying anger and work on calming it throughout the day, every day. Then, ask yourself the big questions as to what is causing this anger. Re-evaluate your past experiences, resentments, and what or who you haven’t fully let go of so you can finally resolve your attachments to residual anger.
Dealing with flash anger is troubling whether you are the one experiencing it or on the receiving end of it. Learning how to address the underlying anger leading to flash anger moments is the first step to overcoming your flash anger. If you or a loved one is struggling with sobriety or mental health issues, contact Avalon Malibu. Avalon Malibu is a California state-licensed mental health and substance abuse treatment center that can help you in your addiction recovery and mental health struggles. Through our integrative approach to healing, we will customize a treatment that is unique to your needs. With our help, you can overcome the challenges facing you, and you will be on the road to feeling a strong sense of joy and well-being once again. Call us at (844) 857-5992.
