Anger Triggers: How to Identify Them & Avoid Them in the Future

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hand squeezing stress ball to help with anger management

As humans, we are not designed to withhold emotional reactions. When these emotions have a clear root, we feel much more at ease and justified in having them.

However, sometimes we find ourselves having an uncontrolled emotional and angry reaction that isn’t aligned with what is happening. This is known as a trigger, which can emerge at any time, and can be caused by a wide range of things.

Everyone gets angry from time to time, but letting it get out of control is harmful. Without taking the right action, anger issues can severely affect our relationships, career, and health.

If this resonates with you, it’s important to identify your anger triggers and what they feel like, in order to create a strategy for coping with them. Our anger management counselling in Newcastle can help with both of these aspects, to enable you to live a calmer, healthier life.

What Is a Trigger?

Because they are based in our individual experiences, any person, place, thing, or situation that elicits an unexpected emotional response can be an anger trigger.

Our triggers are usually rooted in past traumatic experiences; in an effort to protect us from further harm, our brains scan for stimuli that may indicate threat, which leads to outsized reactions to seemingly harmless causes.

When we are feeling triggered, it can feel as if you are reliving a traumatic experience. This may lead to feelings of panic and anxiety, causing physical tension, an urge to run away, and uncontrolled anger outbursts.

How To Identify Anger Triggers

A triggering event can be anything from an argument with your partner, to a change in routine. Recognising these triggers is essential in order to learn how to avoid them in the future. Here are some signs that you are likely to have been triggered by something:

  • Being unsure of your emotions:

When you feel unable to calm yourself down, but are unsure exactly why, there’s a likely chance that you have been triggered.

  • Routine occurrences bothering you:

If a major issue is weighing on your mind, your concern may not be out of the ordinary. But if it’s a routine occurrence that has left you feeling angry, this is likely to be a trigger.

  • Going over the same situation:

If you find that you can’t stop rehashing a particular situation, something about it may have you triggered.

  • Imbalanced anger reaction:

If you find that you’re having an imbalanced reaction to something, you may not be reacting to the situation, but to an underlying issue.

Anger Management Newcastle

If you find yourself unable to cope with your anger triggers, it’s important to seek professional help. Although it may be difficult to control or avoid situations that trigger anger, there are a number of ways to manage them and respond to them differently, through anger management.

Here at Newcastle Psychologist & Counselling, our specialist therapists and counsellors offer anger management in Newcastle to help you to identify and challenge your triggers.

Within anger management therapy, we will teach you strategies that will enable you to calm intense anger caused by triggers, to prevent yourself from become overwhelmed and losing control.

Anger Management Counselling Newcastle

If you would like help with your anger triggers from one of our anger management focused therapists in Newcastle, send us a message using the box below or call us on 07966645198 to speak to a member of the team today.

Dr Stuart Sadler (Chartered Psychologist)

Best wishes,

Dr Stuart Sadler

Lead Clinical Psychologist

Contact us Today


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