Symptoms of Anger (and Aggression)
Symptoms of anger and aggression – sometime we get angry, sometime we rage at everything and can become aggressive with it. Anger can range from mild
Symptoms of anger can show themselves without us realising
annoyance to absolute rage, so you may have experienced some or all of the symptoms of anger below to varying degrees of severity.
Below are listed some of the physical and psychological features of anger and the behaviours seen in aggression.
Anger – physical responses
- Increase in heart rate and blood pressure
- Sweating
- Tension in muscles
- Clenched jaw
Anger – psychological responses
- Feeling frustrated
- Feeling rejected
- Feeling that you’ve been mistreated
- Hostility towards some people
- When anger leads to aggression people often describe feeling ‘out of control’
Aggression
- Shouting at people (e.g. family, colleagues, strangers)
- Physical violence towards people (e.g. hitting, punching)
- Physical violence towards objects (e.g. slamming doors)
- Ignoring or socially excluding others (passive aggression)