KARACHI: Addressing head-on the growing problem of anger among citizens, an awareness programme was organised at T2F on Wednesday by the Pakistan Association for Mental Health (PAMH).

Many question whether anger is an innate characteristic or a product of our surroundings, and Dr Uzma Ambareen was present at hand to dispel some of the misconceptions regarding this emotion, as well as propose management techniques to combats its adverse effects.

“Anger is a natural reaction and everyone experiences it. Having an anger problem does not mean you are bad, sick or crazy. And as most anger problems are learned, they can be unlearned too,” she said.

There is a growing need to address the issue before it goes out of hand, and can potentially result in dangerous outcomes. “Anger-prone people are three times more likely to have heart attacks, than others. Unexpressed anger can also lead to headaches, neck and back pain, anxiety, panic attacks, and depression,” she added.

The programme was an interactive session where the audience was asked to share their feedback and experiences about what made them angry, the behaviour they adopted and the ways in which they would handle the situation. They were also given a checklist on anger behaviours that they had to rate themselves individually on. Then the rating scale was discussed in detail.

Nobody just implodes or explodes, she explained. One way to combat anger and its negative impact, she explained, was to practice a time out. “Stay away from the person and situation causing the anger for as long as it takes to cool down.”

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2019