Physically
and biochemically speaking, anger is an adrenal glandular hormonal
response that prepares the body to fight or run away. In other words, it
is a body response that is a type of minor fight-or-flight response
that prepares the body to actually fight or run from a perceived threat
or attack.
Neuro-scientificallly, aggression is believed to involve the lobes, the amygdala and serotonin. We get angry when frustrated; when our desires, goals or expectations are thwarted.
Asymmetries of brain activity
Nonetheless, "by focusing on the asymmetric brain activity of the frontal lobe that occurs when we experience emotions, there are two models that contradict the case of anger.
The first model, 'of emotional valence', suggests that the left frontal region of the brain is involved in experiencing positive emotions, whilst the right is more related to negative emotions.
The second model, 'of motivational direction', shows that the left frontal region is involved in experiencing emotions related to closeness, whilst the right is associated with the emotions that provoke withdrawal.
The positive emotions, like happiness, are usually associated to a motivation of closeness, and the negative ones, like fear and sadness, are characterized by a motivation of withdrawal.
However, not all emotions behave in accordance with this connection. "The case of anger is unique because it is experienced as negative but, often, it evokes a motivation of closeness.
"When experiencing anger, an increase in right ear advantage that indicates a greater activation of the left hemisphere, which supports the model of motivational direction. In other words, when we get angry, our asymmetric cerebral response is measured by the motivation of closeness to the stimulus that causes us to be angry and not so much by the fact we consider this stimulus as negative: "Normally when we get angry we show a natural tendency to get closer to what made us angry to try to eliminate it.
Anger has three components:
• Physical reactions: Becoming angry has similar effects on the body as does fighting or running away. Everyone has a physical response to anger. Our body releases the hormone adrenalin, making our heart beat faster and making us breathe quicker and sweat more. When we get angry, the heart rate, arterial tension and testosterone production increases, cortisol (the stress hormone) decreases, and the left hemisphere of the brain becomes more stimulated. Also, blood is shunted away from the digestive and eliminate organs. Instead, it is shunted to the head or brain, and to the muscles, again for the purpose of preparing the body for a fight. This allows us to focus on the threat and react quickly, but it can also mean we don’t think straight, and maybe react in ways we might regret later on.
• The cognitive experience of anger, or how we perceive and think about what is making us angry. For example, we might think something that happened to us is wrong, unfair, and undeserved.
• Behavior, or the way we express our anger. There is a wide range of behavior that signals anger. We may look and sound angry, turn red, raise our voices, clam up, slam doors, storm away, or otherwise signal to others that we are angry.
One aspect is that women are more reversed and more fearful than men.
• Biochemical reasons for women’s greater level of fear from an esoteric concept having to do with yin and yang, copper and zinc, and other factors. Women have much higher copper levels than men, and lower zinc levels, in most all cases. Copper stimulates the biogenic amine, which accentuate the emotions. Copper has other enzymatic effects that stimulate the diencephalon or old, animal brain. Meanwhile, men have less of this, and have more zinc in their bodies. Zinc tends to calm and balance the emotions.
• Hormonal reasons for more fear. Female hormones cycle monthly, changing each day. This can be upsetting for young, menstruating women because some of them literally think and feel different on different days.
• Men have more testosterone, a hormone that gives one a feeling of superiority, safety, and confidence. Women have more estrogen, hormones that increase copper and decrease zinc. This combination often gives rise to more spacey and less confident attitudes.
• Women also have a slower oxidation rate than men, in general. This is related to their hormone levels, particularly estrogen, which slows the oxidation rate, and other genetic factors. The effect is that their glandular system is more sluggish, and generates less energy than men’s glandular system, in general.
• Women tend to be lower energy creatures than men. This also makes them more scared, as energy is a key to being able to fight back and/or run away from all threats and attacks upon them.
• Many women are very intelligent and are extremely angry because they can see the truth about life around them better than their peers, especially their male peers. They handle this higher awareness or understanding by becoming angry with men and with the world, instead of reaching out, or at least having compassion for those who are less aware and less intelligent than themselves.
The health conditions and drugs that can lead to rage anger
• OVERACTIVE THYROID
Anger — shouting at the children or your partner — could be triggered by an overactive thyroid, also known as hyperthyroidism.
Most commonly affecting women (about one in every 100). ‘This hormone affects everything to do with the body’s metabolism, including heart rate and body temperature,’
• HIGH CHOLESTEROL
Sta-tins help to lower blood cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease, but one side-effect is bad temper.
‘One theory is that low cholesterol levels also lower levels of serotonin (the happiness hormone) in the brain, making the response to anger harder to control’. Lower levels of serotonin mean statins have also been associated with depression and even a raised risk of suicide.
‘The risk of depression is highest with low and high levels of cholesterol, so being in the low to middle range seems the safest place to be. ‘The best way to avoid this side-effect is to bring levels down slowly.’
• DIABETES
Low blood sugar levels can cause sudden bursts of anger.
Hypoglycemia, caused by lower than normal blood glucose levels, can happen in type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Low sugar levels affect all body tissue, including the brain, and can lead to an imbalance of chemicals, including serotonin.
Within minutes this can lead to aggression, anger, confusion, restlessness and panic attacks.
• DEPRESSION
It is thought depression is linked to levels of serotonin and copper level. Depression is not only expressed as lethargy and sadness. It can also leave you feeling angry, agitated and irritable. This is particularly the case in men, as they are less likely to experience the feelings of hopelessness and self-loathing women often suffer. Dr Stokes-Lampard says: ‘One extreme form, agitated depression, is thought to affect five per cent of people with depression. Symptoms can also include restlessness, insomnia and racing thoughts.’
• ALZHEIMER’S
As Alzheimer’s progresses, a range of behavioral and psychological symptoms may occur in up to 90 per cent of sufferers, says a report commissioned by the Department of Health.
‘These can include irritability and uncharacteristic outbursts of anger, which occur several years after the onset of the disease. ‘The disease increasingly affects various parts of the brain including the frontal lobe, the area responsible for personality.’
• INFLAMED LIVER
The liver was linked to the emotion anger in ancient medicine — and rightly so. Several conditions affecting the liver — such as cirrhosis (usually brought on by excessive alcohol) and hepatitis (as a result of viral disease such as glandular fever and severe bacterial infections) can lead to a condition called hepatic encephalopathy. This can bring on personality changes, including surly behavior and aggression.
• EPILEPSY
Patients can sometimes experience anger immediately after a seizure. ‘Seizures themselves are caused by a sudden burst of electrical activity in the brain,’ ‘This causes a temporary disruption in the normal message passing between brain cells. ‘If the seizure is major, outbursts of anger, sometimes delusional, may occur afterwards’. While exceedingly rare, symptoms may last from minutes to days after the seizure. In this situation treating the cause — the epilepsy itself — is the key, generally with anti-epileptic drugs.
• BEING A WOMAN
Premenstrual disorders are among the causes of uncontrollable anger for some women. PMS often causes mood changes and irritability. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is characterized by the mix of serotonin imbalance and hormonal changes. A variety of physical and emotional symptoms are associated with this condition, causing some women to feel emotionally distraught, out of control, and angry. Symptoms are typically more intense just prior to menstruation, lessening during menstruation, and disappearing afterwards. The mere mention of a grumpy demeanor during the ‘time of the month’ is enough to incur the wrath of most women — but there is a genuine reason for it.
Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) is believed to happen when levels of hormones such as estrogen and progesterone fall at the end of the cycle — the week before menstruation. The same can occur during the menopause, because of the drop in estrogen.
• SLEEPING TABLETS
A lack of sleep is enough to make anyone overwrought — but one of the drugs supposed to ease the insomnia may also add to your anger. The group of drugs, known as benzodiazepines, also sometimes prescribed for anxiety, work by slowing down brain function.
• WILSON’S DISEASE
Your angry outbursts could be a result of Wilson’s disease. This genetic disorder, which affects about one in 30,000, causes copper to accumulate in the liver or brain. ‘Small amounts are as essential as vitamins (it maintains the health of bones and tissues, among other things) and we get it from the food we eat. ‘However, while healthy people excrete any copper they don’t need, in Wilson’s disease, patients can’t.’ This build-up of copper attacks the brain damaging brain tissue, including the frontal lobe, which is responsible for personality.
• STROKE
Flying off the handle after a stroke is relatively common. Stroke occurs when blood supply to the brain is cut off — either as a result of a blood clot, or a damaged blood vessel — leading to brain cell death. If the part of the brain affected is the underside of the frontal lobe, which deals with our ability to feel empathy and controlling our emotion, aggression can occur.
Neuro-scientificallly, aggression is believed to involve the lobes, the amygdala and serotonin. We get angry when frustrated; when our desires, goals or expectations are thwarted.
Asymmetries of brain activity
Nonetheless, "by focusing on the asymmetric brain activity of the frontal lobe that occurs when we experience emotions, there are two models that contradict the case of anger.
The first model, 'of emotional valence', suggests that the left frontal region of the brain is involved in experiencing positive emotions, whilst the right is more related to negative emotions.
The second model, 'of motivational direction', shows that the left frontal region is involved in experiencing emotions related to closeness, whilst the right is associated with the emotions that provoke withdrawal.
The positive emotions, like happiness, are usually associated to a motivation of closeness, and the negative ones, like fear and sadness, are characterized by a motivation of withdrawal.
However, not all emotions behave in accordance with this connection. "The case of anger is unique because it is experienced as negative but, often, it evokes a motivation of closeness.
"When experiencing anger, an increase in right ear advantage that indicates a greater activation of the left hemisphere, which supports the model of motivational direction. In other words, when we get angry, our asymmetric cerebral response is measured by the motivation of closeness to the stimulus that causes us to be angry and not so much by the fact we consider this stimulus as negative: "Normally when we get angry we show a natural tendency to get closer to what made us angry to try to eliminate it.
Anger has three components:
• Physical reactions: Becoming angry has similar effects on the body as does fighting or running away. Everyone has a physical response to anger. Our body releases the hormone adrenalin, making our heart beat faster and making us breathe quicker and sweat more. When we get angry, the heart rate, arterial tension and testosterone production increases, cortisol (the stress hormone) decreases, and the left hemisphere of the brain becomes more stimulated. Also, blood is shunted away from the digestive and eliminate organs. Instead, it is shunted to the head or brain, and to the muscles, again for the purpose of preparing the body for a fight. This allows us to focus on the threat and react quickly, but it can also mean we don’t think straight, and maybe react in ways we might regret later on.
• The cognitive experience of anger, or how we perceive and think about what is making us angry. For example, we might think something that happened to us is wrong, unfair, and undeserved.
• Behavior, or the way we express our anger. There is a wide range of behavior that signals anger. We may look and sound angry, turn red, raise our voices, clam up, slam doors, storm away, or otherwise signal to others that we are angry.
One aspect is that women are more reversed and more fearful than men.
• Biochemical reasons for women’s greater level of fear from an esoteric concept having to do with yin and yang, copper and zinc, and other factors. Women have much higher copper levels than men, and lower zinc levels, in most all cases. Copper stimulates the biogenic amine, which accentuate the emotions. Copper has other enzymatic effects that stimulate the diencephalon or old, animal brain. Meanwhile, men have less of this, and have more zinc in their bodies. Zinc tends to calm and balance the emotions.
• Hormonal reasons for more fear. Female hormones cycle monthly, changing each day. This can be upsetting for young, menstruating women because some of them literally think and feel different on different days.
• Men have more testosterone, a hormone that gives one a feeling of superiority, safety, and confidence. Women have more estrogen, hormones that increase copper and decrease zinc. This combination often gives rise to more spacey and less confident attitudes.
• Women also have a slower oxidation rate than men, in general. This is related to their hormone levels, particularly estrogen, which slows the oxidation rate, and other genetic factors. The effect is that their glandular system is more sluggish, and generates less energy than men’s glandular system, in general.
• Women tend to be lower energy creatures than men. This also makes them more scared, as energy is a key to being able to fight back and/or run away from all threats and attacks upon them.
• Many women are very intelligent and are extremely angry because they can see the truth about life around them better than their peers, especially their male peers. They handle this higher awareness or understanding by becoming angry with men and with the world, instead of reaching out, or at least having compassion for those who are less aware and less intelligent than themselves.
The health conditions and drugs that can lead to rage anger
• OVERACTIVE THYROID
Anger — shouting at the children or your partner — could be triggered by an overactive thyroid, also known as hyperthyroidism.
Most commonly affecting women (about one in every 100). ‘This hormone affects everything to do with the body’s metabolism, including heart rate and body temperature,’
• HIGH CHOLESTEROL
Sta-tins help to lower blood cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease, but one side-effect is bad temper.
‘One theory is that low cholesterol levels also lower levels of serotonin (the happiness hormone) in the brain, making the response to anger harder to control’. Lower levels of serotonin mean statins have also been associated with depression and even a raised risk of suicide.
‘The risk of depression is highest with low and high levels of cholesterol, so being in the low to middle range seems the safest place to be. ‘The best way to avoid this side-effect is to bring levels down slowly.’
• DIABETES
Low blood sugar levels can cause sudden bursts of anger.
Hypoglycemia, caused by lower than normal blood glucose levels, can happen in type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Low sugar levels affect all body tissue, including the brain, and can lead to an imbalance of chemicals, including serotonin.
Within minutes this can lead to aggression, anger, confusion, restlessness and panic attacks.
• DEPRESSION
It is thought depression is linked to levels of serotonin and copper level. Depression is not only expressed as lethargy and sadness. It can also leave you feeling angry, agitated and irritable. This is particularly the case in men, as they are less likely to experience the feelings of hopelessness and self-loathing women often suffer. Dr Stokes-Lampard says: ‘One extreme form, agitated depression, is thought to affect five per cent of people with depression. Symptoms can also include restlessness, insomnia and racing thoughts.’
• ALZHEIMER’S
As Alzheimer’s progresses, a range of behavioral and psychological symptoms may occur in up to 90 per cent of sufferers, says a report commissioned by the Department of Health.
‘These can include irritability and uncharacteristic outbursts of anger, which occur several years after the onset of the disease. ‘The disease increasingly affects various parts of the brain including the frontal lobe, the area responsible for personality.’
• INFLAMED LIVER
The liver was linked to the emotion anger in ancient medicine — and rightly so. Several conditions affecting the liver — such as cirrhosis (usually brought on by excessive alcohol) and hepatitis (as a result of viral disease such as glandular fever and severe bacterial infections) can lead to a condition called hepatic encephalopathy. This can bring on personality changes, including surly behavior and aggression.
• EPILEPSY
Patients can sometimes experience anger immediately after a seizure. ‘Seizures themselves are caused by a sudden burst of electrical activity in the brain,’ ‘This causes a temporary disruption in the normal message passing between brain cells. ‘If the seizure is major, outbursts of anger, sometimes delusional, may occur afterwards’. While exceedingly rare, symptoms may last from minutes to days after the seizure. In this situation treating the cause — the epilepsy itself — is the key, generally with anti-epileptic drugs.
• BEING A WOMAN
Premenstrual disorders are among the causes of uncontrollable anger for some women. PMS often causes mood changes and irritability. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is characterized by the mix of serotonin imbalance and hormonal changes. A variety of physical and emotional symptoms are associated with this condition, causing some women to feel emotionally distraught, out of control, and angry. Symptoms are typically more intense just prior to menstruation, lessening during menstruation, and disappearing afterwards. The mere mention of a grumpy demeanor during the ‘time of the month’ is enough to incur the wrath of most women — but there is a genuine reason for it.
Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) is believed to happen when levels of hormones such as estrogen and progesterone fall at the end of the cycle — the week before menstruation. The same can occur during the menopause, because of the drop in estrogen.
• SLEEPING TABLETS
A lack of sleep is enough to make anyone overwrought — but one of the drugs supposed to ease the insomnia may also add to your anger. The group of drugs, known as benzodiazepines, also sometimes prescribed for anxiety, work by slowing down brain function.
• WILSON’S DISEASE
Your angry outbursts could be a result of Wilson’s disease. This genetic disorder, which affects about one in 30,000, causes copper to accumulate in the liver or brain. ‘Small amounts are as essential as vitamins (it maintains the health of bones and tissues, among other things) and we get it from the food we eat. ‘However, while healthy people excrete any copper they don’t need, in Wilson’s disease, patients can’t.’ This build-up of copper attacks the brain damaging brain tissue, including the frontal lobe, which is responsible for personality.
• STROKE
Flying off the handle after a stroke is relatively common. Stroke occurs when blood supply to the brain is cut off — either as a result of a blood clot, or a damaged blood vessel — leading to brain cell death. If the part of the brain affected is the underside of the frontal lobe, which deals with our ability to feel empathy and controlling our emotion, aggression can occur.
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