Can anger issues be cured?

Anger is an expression of emotion that many people have experienced either from themselves or as an observer from others. It is a common expression of emotion that humans use for a variety of reasons. Some individuals can express anger in a “controlled” manner while having great and even severe difficulty managing its appropriate expression. Over time as a therapist, I have worked with various individuals wanting to learn to “manage” their anger due to the negative consequences it has created over time in various settings.

Many individuals seeking to “manage” their anger often ask if it's possible to stop its expression altogether. They ask if their anger issues can be “cured” and be put in the past. Often when I hear a client/patient use the word “cure,” it takes me back to my graduate school years, where I remember being taught that the word “cure” did not exist when it comes to mental illness. Of course, we can debate whether just “anger” is considered a mental illness; however, the construct of anger is what we want to know whether it is curable or not. Without knowing the specific capacities for change in each individual, I treat, it’s difficult to say whether anger can be cured in this person or not. I prefer to consider always giving an individual the benefit of the doubt as there are; I have been surprised by a person's ability to change, adapt or adjust.

To assist an individual in coming close to or attaining a “cure” of their anger, the intricacies of their pattern must be conscious enough to where the expression of anger becomes a choice rather than an impulse. Once an individual can master to a greater degree than previously their ability to choose its expression, then and only then can we define what a cure means? We also must consider contexts where anger may be useful, and such expressions within appropriateness may not reflect a recurrence or relapse from the cure. So can anger issues be cured? It depends on how we define cure, the specifics of the individual, and the consistency of recognizing choice in situations.