what anger feels like?

We all have felt anger on one occasion or another. Everyone explains the experience a little differently. However, some specific traits go along with feeling angry, especially in the extreme. Anger triggers lots of reactions in the human body, which puts us in the fight-or-flight mode. When feeling anger, our muscles become tense; our blood pressure rises, glands secrete increase sweat, we become forgetful, and we see “red.”

MUSCLE TENSION

The body jumps into defense mode, prepping to protect itself from harm. We tend to tighten our jaws, clench our fists instinctively, and our core muscles flexed, ready for battle. Not to mention the body releases the three stress hormones, Adrenaline, Cortisol, and Norepinephrine. The body's tension is not necessarily bad; however, it can become difficult to release the tension and relax later. 

INCREASE BLOOD PRESSURE

Anger triggers the heart rate to increase, which causes our blood to start pumping to our head, causing the face to become flushed. This excess blood flow causes our blood pressure to rise. Also, our breathing becomes shallow and can increase in rate.

PHYSICAL CHANGES

We experience lots of physical changes, such as sweating. We start sweating to ensure we do not overheat from our increased blood pressure. Our body could start shaking due to all the muscle tension. We may experience headaches, nausea, and other physical sickness symptoms. Anger can be rough on the body. 

COGNITIVE CHALLENGES

Anger can cause stress on the brain as well. It puts us in the state to defend our lives, which, believe it or note, reduces our ability to process complex information. People have described feeling like they were in a fugue state, a temporary confusion about who they are or what they are doing, during moments of intense anger. The cognitive skills of comprehending, hearing, and interpreting can be challenging when feeling angry. 

Our memory can be compromised in other ways as well. We struggle to remember what we have planned to do or say in moments of anger. In worse-case scenarios, our anger could prevent new memories from forming due to the brain's excess cortisol. This can explain why exceedingly stressful conditions are tougher to recall.

OVERALL

Anger is our internal alarm system to alert us that something is not right based on moral, ethical, spiritual, and societal definitions. It is supposed to be a sense of protection in which all the above reactions happen in moderation; however, when the anger is intense or out of control, the responses can reach a severity that causes us harm. Anger is a normal part of life and should be expressed with self-control.