Anger on the Streets of London

There are times in life when feelings can run high and when anger that has been simmering under the surface, bubbles over into full blown chaos. This was the case yesterday during the student demonstration against the planned hike in university fees. In such environments, one angry person is not good -especially for that person‘s health: two people can create a spark that once goes off, can lead to an anger related outburst and -in the case of the protestors yesterday- 52,000 angry people is a recipe for full blown confrontation and mayhem.

Indeed this is what happened. Within this angry group, the violent outburst of one or two people acted as the ‘flame that lit the tinder box‘. Before no-time at all, the ruling Conservative Party headquarters at 30 Millbank on the banks of the River Thames in London were under siege. The anger was so severe that the entrance hall to the Grade 11 listed office building was stormed by protestors, who set about smashing it to pieces - followed by the rest of the building. Finally protestors stood atop the roof of the building, unfurled banners and a fire extinguisher being thrown at police. Thus a situation with a rebellious few escalated into a full-blown confrontation injuring a number of police and protestors.

In many ways -but of course on a far smaller scale- personal anger is the same. There are many situations in life that annoy us. Off the top of my head I can think of at least five that really annoy me! This anger builds up over a period of time - over a minute: an hour: a day: month: year: even over many years. This suppression of frustration gnawing away at us steadily grows. Eventually a spark -the final trigger- can bring this to the fore and lead to an outburst of anger - whether this is via a raised voice, hand gestures or shouting and screaming.

While this may help rid us of the anger in the short term, the consequences can be severe. As with the violence we witnessed yesterday, these outbursts may only make ourselves feel better in the very short-term but do not solve the problem at all. The reverse may actually happen, whereby this outburst of anger damages us personally, leading to damages to our personal health, showing to all that we have lost control and can indeed have very severe legal consequences. We may lash out and damage property (vandalism) or even other people (assault) - maybe even hurting our loved ones!

Anger management can address not only the core ’underlying’ anger issue(s) but helps to build coping strategies for the future - if anger rears its ugly head again.