Anger and Anxiety share a lot more than just feeling words starting with the letter A. The connection to each other is so much more common than most people realize. First when you need to look closer at Anxiety. Anxiety is related to emotions like Worry, Apprehension, Concern, and Stress. All of these emotions are a form of Fear. Yes, so Fear is the root emotion for many of our more specific feelings. So what if Anxiety is a type of fear, how does that connect to Anger? Many people remember hearing in school that in times of Fear Humans and other animals will react to Fear with a Flight, Fight, or Freeze response. Well that middle emotion Fight is connected to Anger. Fight tells you to get worked up and do something to save you. Try to lift weights why you are laughing and watch as you don’t get anywhere. Then try when you are Angry. Your lifting results will be a whole lot more positive. The problem we have in the modern world is that the part of the brain that responds to Fear is not the part where any intelligent thought occurs. Sometimes we are lucky and are Fear response works for the situation and sometimes it does not. So in the United States our cultural response to Fear is Fight. This again as a country is a mixed blessing. The problem is that when Fear is caused by misunderstanding or exaggeration the Anger response we have will miss the spot. Since Fear and Stress are related it is easy to see how we might use Anger to try to respond to our emotions. We yell at our loved ones because we are feeling Stress. The primitive brain takes over and we do something that may somewhat help or Stress, but it hurts our relationship. So when you see Anger in someone you might want to ask yourself are they really feeling some sort of Fear.
Handheld Games: Bad Habit or Addiction
We live in a time where virtually everyone has played some game on a handheld device. I am sure very few people believe that sometimes children, and yes even adults, play more than is wise. Some disturbing truths about this relative new phenomenon need to be discussed. I believe the trouble begins with the formation of habits. Humans rely on good habits like teeth brushing and seat-belt use to ensure health and safety. We suffer through bad habits like eating the whole bag of potato chips without thinking, or having a drink to relax instead of going for a walk. So now what walks in our life is a device that has a number of positive uses, but also a number of negative uses. Notice now that people will pull out their device when idle for just a brief moment or two. This has become an automatic habit. Any habit it has varying degrees of strength. How often and how intense the habit has become is the issue. So a simple experiment to see how bad the habit may be is to remove the battery from the handheld device in the morning. Then carry the device around all day. Notice how often you pick it up and try to use it. Even though you should remember that it won’t work you will most likely automatically try to use it. If you can’t even make it throughout the day without putting the battery back in you may be beyond habit and into addiction. Just remember how overweight would you be if you walk around with your favorite food with you all day, every day. If you think the habit is too much for you or a member of your family you may need to ask for help. It is said that a fun and useful tool can bring with it something that can be so negative to our well-being.