Rising Anger in America.

Essays | Frank Yang | January 19th, 2023.

We are undoubtedly experiencing more and more anger. Pulitzer Prize winner Charles Duhigg explains how anger has become less episodic and more persistent, a constant drumbeat in our lives. From an increasing number of protests for justice, to rising economic instability, to growing partisanship between our two major parties, Americans are angry. 

American society has become even tenser. UC Irvine psychology professor Raymond Novaco describes how today, Americans are living in a big anger incubator where the conditions are just right for us to be angry. These conditions can take many forms, such as in recent years with the pandemic, economic collapses, and civil unrest. Our to-do list of problems to solve grows day after day, only serving to worsen the social climate around us.

We also struggle with coping. Duke University associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences Damon Tweedy tells us that anger becomes a problem when it is sustained without use of positive coping tools. So instead of having helpful ways to cope, we either have ineffective ones, or none at all, and so we get blocked from being able to properly deal with our emotions.

Doctor Louise Miller describes how on an individual level, anger can cause mental health problems, whether it’s by clouding your thoughts, causing you to lash out at friends or family, or compelling you to pick up drinking as a means to dull the anger. Whether this anger is caused by something as mundane as road rage or as complex as racism, the end result— anger— isn’t worth it, especially when it could escalate as badly as Doctor Miller describes.

And beyond the harms on just our own bodies, the effect of worsened relationships with others is the other result of our problem. The truth is, no one likes anyone who’s angry. And while it may be obvious to point this out, the more angry someone is, the less likely we are to work with them. We have to be sure that anger can no longer be abused. Because currently, anger is the driving vehicle behind some of our nation’s biggest recent tragedies. It’s caused chaos, panic, and unfortunately, deaths. 

Patience is the key to a lot of these problems. Juris Doctor Bruce Tulgan tells us that pushing through stress depletes our energy, requiring more time to get things done. Learn patience by consistently doing yoga-like physical and breathing exercises. This way, discussions won’t turn into fist fights, and disagreements won’t turn into tears and bruises. We can move to healthily make progress in a more calm manner. 

Furthermore, we can treat problems as problems instead of something to attack. Revered author Margaret Wheatley tells us that by approaching problems as enemies, we increase the number of problems we face and the deterioration of a community. So instead of getting mad at your teammate for not doing any of the work in a group project, take a deep breath and talk to that teammate yourself instead of complaining to others. Instead of getting angry at the richest 0.1% and going on a screaming match on Twitter, utilize that anger and spread the message that the strongest voice we have is our vote.