What are blocks to anger?
Blocks to anger can be varied, including :
Fear of rejection: Fear that if I express anger I will be rejected by others.
Need for approval: Wanting the approval and recognition from others so much so that I hesitate to ever show my anger around them.
Intimidation: Giving others power over me so great that I fear showing my anger in front of them, lest they get mad and make me pay a costly negative consequence.
Not knowing what normal is: Never having experienced a normal life where anger was expressed in a healthy way inhibits not only my expression of anger but my recognition of it.
Need to keep the peace: Being compulsively driven to placate and appease others, I am never free enough to express my feelings of honest anger.
Desire to please others: Wanting to keep others happy, pleased and relaxed with me, I choose to avoid the expression of anger around them.
Dependency on others: Looking to others for approval and personal fulfillment, I suppress, ignore, and overlook any anger that arises in me as a result of the relationship.
Fear of going crazy: Believing that once I start expressing my anger I'd never stop, consequently I'd be out of control and labeled insane.
Need for control: Believing that all emotions must be continuously kept in check leads me to ignore, avoid, or overlook any anger that I or others in my life are experiencing.
Belief that anger is bad: Since I believe that all expressions of anger are bad, wrong, undesirable, and unhealthy, I believe that the way to be healthy is never to allow myself to get angry.
Naiveté or lack of knowledge: Being sheltered, ignored, pampered, spoiled, or overly coddled can protect me from anger in my life, leading me to believe innocently that there is never a reason to get angry.
Guilt: Feeling such severe guilt, remorse, and self-denigration for past expressions of anger inhibits me from identifying, expressing, or experiencing current anger.
Depression: Experiencing a flat affect, lack of interest in life, lack of enthusiasm, or energy, or constant sadness can dull my emotional response to life, leaving me unable to experience or express authentic anger.
Pollyanna outlook on life: Wanting only to look at or remember the bright or happy side inhibits me from tuning into the realities of life, past or present, that deserve my anger.
Fear of conflict or confrontation: Recognizing that if I express my anger, I open myself up for others to disagree with, criticize, or confront me with their anger.
Desire to be a good role model: Believing that anger is unhealthy for our children, subordinates, or work colleagues I choose never to express anger in their presence.
Need to entertain or be humorous: Always wanting to keep others from focusing on the negative aspects of reality leads me to ignore, inhibit, or fail to experience anger.
Lack of clarity about what is authentic anger: Always second guessing whether or not my feelings of anger are valid will eventually leave me in an anger vacuum
Feeling ridiculous: Considering anger work-out exercises to be silly, foolish, or childish will result in my inability to experience the true emotion of anger and its cathartic release during these therapeutic work-out sessions.
Overuse of medication: By addictive drinking, drug use, sex, gambling, food intake, shopping, etc., I can so medicate my emotional response to life that I am unable to recognize or experience authentic anger.
