Angrophobia (fear of anger): symptoms, causes and treatment

Some people may develop an extreme fear of becoming angry or being perceived as angry.

The word anthrophobia refers to an excessive fear of anger.. It is a fear of other people's anger and also a fear of getting angry or 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, which makes it worth reviewing.

We will see next what is the angrophobia as well as some hypotheses on its causes and consequences.

What is angrophobia?

As its name says, the angrofobia is the irrational or excessive fear to the 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 or dislike towards one or more people. On the other hand, it is a fear of other people experiencing such feelings towards oneself.

Being a phobia, we can say that the irrational fear that characterizes it arises from a combination of external stressful events. the combination of external stressful eventsThese may or may not be objectively harmful; with a certain personal scheme of coping with 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 daily activities. If it is a phobia of the emotion of anger, it is most likely that, if such discomfort were to occur, it would affect the way in which the person relates to others.

That is, while anger is one of the basic emotions is one of the basic emotions and is present in the most everyday interactions, anger is a very important one.In the case of social phobia, a person with fear of such emotion may have some difficulties in establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships. Therefore, 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 of 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 categorized as such because of 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.

Based on the above, we have generated a whole series of rules about to whom, when, how and where it is appropriate to get angry, and under what circumstances or towards which people it is not appropriate.

The contradictory socialization of anger

The socialization through which many of us have gone through anger has been to curb it, or in any case, exchanging it for calm, control, venting, pauses, or by minimizing the situations for which we are angry.or by minimizing the situations for which we have become angry. This has even happened by labeling ourselves as "fools" once we have become 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, we are asked to do the opposite: to express it, since it is the best way to channel it properly (Renata-Franco and Sánchez Aragón, 2010).

Emotional education towards anger has been then contradictory, which is often part of the family as well as the school, the media and the scientific theories on emotions. 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 happiness and the achievement of personal goals, as well as from interacting and fulfilling our social duties.

From the rejection to the fear of "negative emotions".

If we go a little further and be more specific in this matter, we can see that, in fact, there are some profiles of individuals who have been historically and socially allowed to feel or express their anger in certain ways; and there are other profiles of individuals to whom the same ways have been denied. To give an example, anger externalized in the form of physical aggression or high-flown words may be more socially accepted in masculinity than in femininity.

In the face of such a reaction, people may later receive different reprimands and rejections. In fact, it is common to use the adjective "angry" or "angry" to talk about certain people and to justify the few intentions of living with them. This question is one of those that can trigger a progressive fear of anger and a denial of this emotion that leads to 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 socially rejected because of this perception. socially rejected because of this perceptionOthers may be afraid of triggering the anger of others. The consequence in either case may be to avoid expressing certain opinions, thoughts or behaviors for fear of being perceived as easily angered, or for fear that others will be angry with them.

Treatment of irrational fear of anger

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 may provoke such emotion, it is to be expected that some people will develop an excessive need to avoid anger in all its expressions..

As occurs when any need develops excessively, exposure to the event that triggers the 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 from the event perceived as risky.

Therefore, one way to prevent angrophobia is to analyze the components surrounding such irrational fear and work to reconcile, outside the and work to reconcile, out of contradiction, an emotional education truly oriented to assertiveness. It is necessary to work with mental health professionals who guide the process through psychotherapy.