Is Anger Management an Issue in America?

Anger management, is an issue not only in America, but everywhere else around the world throughout all cultures. Anger is a natural emotion that we all share but it is our choice what we do when overwhelmed with this negative rush of adrenaline. Some of us are aware that we can transform this boost of angry energy, from being negative and destructive to being creative, constructive and focused directing it towards achieving a beneficial goal. When we can do that we can literally move mountains to accomplish the impossible individually and collectively.

As an example is the story of Rosa Parks who as a black woman, in 1955, refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. When asked many years later what had moved her to say no, her answer was, 'I was angry! I'd had enough of the bus segregation injustice.' She remained calm, said no and stood her ground. With that she triggered a larger movement known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which put an end once and for all to bus segregation in America. Other good examples of constructively channeled anger energy are Women's Lib Movement, the Civil Rights Movement in the US, the end of apartheid in South Africa and more recently the financial fiasco initiating the Occupy Movement in Wall Street and other even more recent similar events around the world all initiated by angry people.

But in order to be creative and to use this burst of angry energy productively we need to practice self-control, remain unflustered, despite the anger. We need to have a strong mind, be compassionate and peace loving, with a sole mission to eliminate injustice and to make things better for everyone concerned. Well balanced and peace loving people get angry too but instead of escalating into a rage and turning berserk, they instigate or inspire others to move to find solutions to change things for the better.

Anger can be used like a tool to get us somewhere or it can be used like a weapon lashing out at everyone with one sole mission, destruction. Full of negativity and self-destructive demonic thoughts, we are spurred on by inner devils beyond our control compelled to demolish, kill and to wreak havoc around us, if only to give relief to our tormented soul, to shut out furious inner voices, to put an end to the agony and suffering that we feel. This behavior usually puts us deeper into trouble.

Many health problems such as, backaches, headaches, hypertension, skin disorders, stroke, insomnia, heart attack, colds, infections and more are often due to uncontrolled and unresolved anger. This includes emotional and mental problems such as depression, drug and alcohol abuse, low self-esteem, mood swings and eating disorders. To go through life constantly being angry and holding resentments towards others is detrimental to our health and dangerous and it can result in more serious diseases such as cancer, divorce and accidents when we are preoccupied with our revengeful thoughts or self pity and in irrational behavior and actions that we will regret when we do damage that cannot be rectified.

Anger management is an issue worldwide and needs to be urgently addressed on many levels. We are living in a very unique time in our world history, the demands that we as individuals are exposed to physically, emotionally and mentally, are such as humanity has never known before. Presently only the few are equipped to deal with the digital age and its many challenges. From a metaphysical point of view the issue has to do with the accelerated evolution process of mother earth Gaia, the human being and technology. Modern technology and all that it encompasses demands more than what most are able to cope with in a healthy manner, with the fast changes, on every level, driving the less equipped literally insane. The majority of humans are simply not evolving fast enough to keep up. Hence we have what is called 'The Mad as Hell Generations.'

Most of us are controlled by our emotions and we are unaware of the fact that we live our lives as slaves to our feelings that change from one moment to another depending on our moods and whims of the moment, reacting to outer circumstances. Some of us go through life constantly irritated by one thing or another, and we give vent to this anger in frustration. Some of us repress our feelings of vexations and resentments until this inner rage turns into some kind of mental illness when one day we are bound to blow up, to give vent to violent acts and go rampant causing mayhem around us.

There are many reasons why we are currently witnessing extraordinary violence, terrorism, fascism and racism all over the globe. The injustice of the greed and irresponsible behavior of the banking and financial sector is one reason and other reasons are the corrupt government officials, the erosion of the middle class, the injustice of the political system and the dishonesty of those in power. With most of the world's populations exposed to terrorist attacks and wars people are afraid of what the future might hold for them. Fear makes us angry.

Another factor that contributes to negativity and general discontent is that we are presently living in a society that encourages bad behavior. Most of the entertainment we have on TV and movies are all about how 'bad behavior is cool.' We cheer the villains and displays of hate, intrigues, falsehood and corruption on the screen. We love to watch movies about wars and killings with as much gory details of mutilated bodies and blood as possible. We have movies where popular celebrities such as Michael Douglas declares 'greed is good.' Nowadays it's considered cool to be corrupt. Maximum time is spent on most channels to feed us with the bad and the ugly in the world at large. The question is how can anyone think that we are not affected by all this violence on the screen? Of course we are, depending on our own level of intelligence and psyche we are either desensitized and are not even touched by violence when we see it or we want to copy the villains. It doesn't take a high IQ to know that today if we want to become famous it is easier to commit a horrendous crime and we are assured to be in the TV news exposed to millions for weeks and if we're lucky we'll even have our photo on the cover of Time magazine to join other great celebrities.

There is presently a debate going on as to whether the media, the movie industry and also the toy/games industries play a role in escalating anger, violence and mental illness amongst the young. This should be quite obvious. After all we know that what we focus our attention on becomes our reality. When we focus on the negative, the negative will continue to spread and expand. If everything goes on as it is now 'anger management programs' will be much too little far too late.

It is time for the governments, the politicians, the bankers and financial industries, the giant corporations, the educational system, the medical system, along with the media and the entertainment industry whose only goal is to make profit, to accept responsibility to actively participate with the NGOs, the individuals and the communities who are involved in the process to change our world for the better. Whatever individuals do is not enough if nothing changes at the very top levels. As long as money and profits remain the ultimate goals of all enterprises, within which greed and corruption is widespread, positive change will be slow.

Anger is an issue that has to be dealt with most urgently. It is spreading like wild fire through all societies globally. People today are more aware than ever before, demanding their rights and to put an end to all tyranny. We have an epidemic of anger on our hands that has gone out of control!

Anger management does not solve the problem of 'anger gone berserk' but only deals with the outcome of a lot of wrongs that no one addresses because it is either politically incorrect or not profitable enough. Thank God for face book, you tube and twitter where the public can vent out their anger of injustice reaching millions within minutes.

Sadly it is not deemed necessary for the educational system to include reflective anger management and emotional control in their curriculum. Both parents and the education system should cooperate and accept shared responsibility for the right education for the younger generations. Apparently a research was made that showed that about 6 million teenagers in America are currently diagnosed as suffering from repeated and impossible to control anger attacks. This syndrome has even been given a name IED Intermittent Explosive Disorder, and only 6.5 per cent of the 37.8 per cent of all teenagers who suffer from anger issues received the adequate counseling treatment over the past year. These were the results of a study conducted by researchers from Harvard Medical School who concluded that IED threatens to become a fully-fledged epidemic, if no measures are taken to assuage the devastating effects. The epidemic has spread with adult society as well hence the anger management programs for businessmen and businesswomen! But this is like a drop of cold water on a hot stone. All adults should be educated about anger management and who is better at reaching the masses than the media and the movie industry.

In summary, the answer to the question is absolutely 'YES' Anger Management is an issue in America and needs to be taken seriously and addressed in a humane and compassionate manner without delay not only for celebrities and professional men and women but also with adults and more importantly with the youth generation. This is a very serious issue. The youth of this world need more help, more understanding, more compassion, better education and more support in these fast moving, crazy, competitive, perilous times that we live in. In short we need to clear out the garbage and the hypocrisy of sweeping what is politically incorrect under the rug, before any one of us can find the peace of mind that we all crave for.