Angrophobia (fear Of Anger): Symptoms, Causes And Treatment
The word angrophobia refers to the excessive fear of anger It is a fear of other people’s anger and also the fear of getting angry or of being perceived as an “angry” person. Although it is a phenomenon that has not been studied by psychopathology, it is a term that is used with some frequency in colloquial language, an issue that makes it worth reviewing.
We will see below what angrophobia is as well as some hypotheses about its causes and consequences.
As its name suggests, angrophobia is the irrational or excessive fear of anger. It is, on the one hand, the fear of getting angry. This means that fear of experiencing feelings of anger, annoyance, annoyance or dislike towards one or more people. On the other hand, it is a fear of other people experiencing these feelings towards oneself.
Since it is a phobia, we can say that the irrational fear that characterizes it arises from the combination of external stressful events , these may or may not be objectively harmful; with a certain personal coping scheme towards these events.
Although it does not occur in all cases, phobias can generate clinically significant discomfort, that is, they can affect the way in which the person carries out their daily activities. If it is a phobia of the emotion of anger, it is most likely that, if said discomfort occurs, it would affect the way the person relates.
That is, while anger It is one of the basic emotions and is present in the most everyday interactions , a person with fear of this emotion may have some difficulties establishing and maintaining interpersonal ties. For this reason, it could be considered a type of social phobia.
However, this phobia, as we have said, is not a disease or a clinical condition that is recognized as such by specialists. It is a term that is part of colloquial language and is used more in literary narrative to express the fear of anger, and also its consequences.
Why fear anger?
Anger is an emotion that has traditionally been studied and analyzed as a “negative emotion.” On the one hand, it has been classified as such due to its association with conflict situations that involve a series of physical discomforts ranging from increased blood flow to increased heart rate and the presence of a significant amount of energy, which can sometimes be channeled in an aggressive or violent manner.
From the above, we have generated a whole series of rules about who, when, how and where it is appropriate to get angry, and in what circumstances or towards which people not.
The contradictory socialization of anger
The socialization that many of us have gone through through anger has been to stop it, or in any case, exchange it for calm, control, relief, pauses , or by minimizing the situations for which we have become angry. The above has even happened by labeling ourselves “stupid” once we have gotten angry. From a young age we are asked, on the one hand, to avoid experiencing anger, or at least to prevent its expression from being noticeable; and on the other hand, the opposite is required of us: to express it, since it is the best way to channel it properly (Renata-Franco and Sánchez Aragón, 2010).
Emotional education towards anger has therefore been contradictory, which is often part of both the family and the school, the media and the scientific theories about emotions themselves. Thus, a culture of fear of negative emotions, such as anger, has been generated and generalized due to the idea that the latter can prevent us from both happiness and achievement of personal goals, as well as interaction and fulfillment of social duty. .
From rejection to fear of “negative emotions”
If we go a little further and be more specific on this matter, we can see that, in fact, there are some profiles of individuals who have historically and socially been allowed to feel or express their anger in certain ways; and there are other profiles of individuals to whom the same forms have been denied. For example, externalized anger in the form of physical aggression or high-sounding words may be more socially accepted in masculinity than in femininity.
Faced with a reaction of this type, people may later receive different reprimands and rejections. In fact, it is common to use the adjective “angry” to talk about certain people and justify the lack of intentions to live with them. This issue is one of those that can trigger a progressive fear of anger and a denial of said emotion that triggers irrational fears.
In this sense, angrophobia can manifest itself in different ways in different people: some may be afraid of being perceived as angry, and some may be afraid of being perceived as angry. socially rejected thanks to this perception ; and others may be afraid of triggering other people’s anger. The consequence in any case may be to avoid expressing certain opinions, thoughts or behaviors for fear of being perceived as people who get angry easily, or for fear that others will get angry with them.
After having experienced a contradictory emotional education about negative emotions such as anger, and without having reinforced solid coping schemes in the face of conflictive situations that can provoke said emotion, it is to be expected that some people develop an excessive need to avoid anger in all its expressions
As occurs when any need develops excessively, exposure to the event that triggers stress (in this case, anger) can cause significant discomfort, ranging from states of stress or anxiety, and their physical correlates, to obsessive thoughts and withdrawal behaviors that protect against the event perceived as risky.
Therefore, one way to prevent angrophobia is analyze the components that surround said irrational fear and work to reconcile, outside of contradiction, an emotional education truly oriented towards assertiveness. It is necessary to work with mental health professionals who guide the process through psychotherapy.
