anger

[roswellman]

need drugs to control severe anger.... Ive tried many things to control my anger nothing works.. I am destroying my life with anger and I need medication to stop the rage

[specialmom]

Rage can often be a symptom of depression with anxiety.  Short fused people are often suffering from anxiety.  This is something to talk to a physician about as mentioned above.  Treating the underlying chemical condition will help with the emotional outbursts.

The other piece of those who have anger issues is that somewhere along the way, their ability to handle emotion/anger didn't develop properly.  They never learned the skills of how to cope with this powerful emotion.  Then habits form that can be destructive.  It hurts those around you and yourself by being so volatile.  Psychologists can help give you stategies for this.  They may talk about what is making you so angry---------- if there are root causes.  They can also help you with skills you need to work on to handle yourself better.  

I'll give you an example of a way to control anger.  It is called the 'Stress Thermometer'.  I want you to visualize a thermometer-----  the old fashioned kind with a little ball on the end and the red liquid rises the hotter it gets.  Okay, at the bottom in the ball area------  picture that it is green.  When the thermometer is there and green, this is when you feel just right.  Not angry, calm, at peace.  This is obviously where you want to be.  Thing about what your body is doing when you are calm, not upset, etc.  You breath smoothly, you are relaxed, smiling, etc.  So this is your just right place where you want to stay.  The next portion up from there-----  picture the color yellow (rising right above the green ball).  This is where you are starting to get a bit upset, slightly agitated, frustrated.  Notice what your body is doing when you are in this state.  You are probably starting to breath faster, your talking faster, your voice is a bit louder, no longer smiling, eyes narrowing, hands tightening up.  The next section on the thermometer you are picturing has the color orange right above the color yellow.  This is where you are flat out mad.  Your voice is loud, close to shouting, your body is tense, you're breathing very fast and shallow.  The color after orange is RED.  This is full out rage.  The adult version of a tantrum.  YOu are shouting, fists clenched, eyes narrowed into a glare, heart pounding.  

These are the stages of anger.  To  control it, we have to understand the stages and how we go through them.  Some people go from green to red in a quick amount of time.  The idea is to start to recognize that it is happening.  And stop it along the way.  If you become agitated-----  WHAT can you do to feel 'just right again'.  

So, after you see how you go through the stages, start to come up with strategies to stop the process and start to feel just right again.  Some are timeless strategies of deep breaths or square breathing (breath in for 4, hold 4, breath out for 4, hold 4, repeat), opening and closing fists to keep blood flowing and calm yourself, counting, etc.  You can also have an exit strategy.  I'm starting to get ticked ------  leave situation, go to my i pod, listen to favorite music.  Some can use physical activity to calm the overall nervous system so it is more stabilized and less likely to be volatile------  with swimming being my favorite thing for this.  Some can take out an awful lot of emotion through writing.  When full of rage, keep a journal and write it out.  These are just some ideas.

But developing coping strategies is really important.  Remember, an antidepressent will help 'rough out' the edges but does not take things away.  So medication is necessary if you do indeed suffer from depression with anxiety or some other mental health issue but working on the whole package to overcome the issue through talk therapy is essential.  good luck

[Londres70]

What have you tried?  Any therapy?  

I definitely would recommend you discussing this with your physician or better yet a Psychiatrist ASAP especially since you are defining your anger as rage.