Anger can be a difficult and powerful emotion. I am not entirely comfortable with anger and sometimes still feel like pushing it away. This is a giant leap ahead of my previous attitude toward anger: dismiss its relevance and reject its existence.
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Anger and PTSD
vlbhopes
Thursday, July 17, 2008 at 09:56 AMre: Anger and PTSD
Kimberly Tyler
Friday, July 18, 2008 at 04:27 PMDear vlbhopes,
Thanks for your response and your thoughts. I agree.
Accepting that anger is a normal and healthy emotion changed up everything for me. Seeing anger only as "bad" and abnormal meant it was something shameful to run away from and/or hide it from others.
Knowing that it was okay (and normal!) to feel anger was important for me understand. Anger presents itself to alert me that something is amiss. If I feel anger, I am feeling anger for a reason. There is always a reason. Getting to the reason, and then resolving it, is what is important.
Also similar to you, dealing with anger when it arises allows me the freedom to go about the other business of life. I don't have to be afraid of anger or dismiss it. I can accept that I am angry, deal with it, resolve it, etc., and move on. If I pretend I am not angry or hold onto the anger and do nothing about it but get more angry, the only person it affects is me (and in an unhealthy way).
Anger can be used and misused in ways that are harmful to us. Appreciating the emotion of anger for what it is was difficult for me, and your response is appreciated-we are never alone! Thanks.
Best,
Kimberly Tyler
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Thank you Kimberly for sharing your insight. As a PTSD sufferer I used to wrap my
anger around myself like a blanket, protecting myself from getting hurt. Holding the anger so tightly to yourself I have learned in the long run only hurts YOU. We have to put anger in a place where it is accepted, understood and then put aside so we can
enjoy the feedom from it. So we can find the joy again in our lives.
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