Coping With Angrophobia or the Fear of Anger

We all get mad sometimes, and some people have better control over their anger than others. When someone suffers from angrophobia, or the fear of anger, they fear getting angry because their anger is often so out of control that it can be frightening.

Angrophobia is classified as a specific phobia, which is an intense fear of an object or situation that can result in extreme distress and avoidance behaviors. An estimated 12% of people deal with a specific phobia at some point in their lives.

The term angrophobia refers specifically to the fear of becoming angry rather than the fear of others becoming angry with you. Like all phobias, angrophobia varies widely in both its symptoms and its severity from one person to the next.

However, not everyone who is afraid of losing their temper suffers from angrophobia. Those with the phobia will go to extremes to avoid getting mad. In many cases, this causes the angrophobic to avoid social situations and even become reclusive.

What Causes Angrophobia?

Although angrophobia does not always have a demonstrable cause, in most cases it is related to a traumatic past event. People whose parents were frequently angry and those who suffered from child abuse may be at increased risk for developing this fear. Those who were punished for expressing anger may also be more likely to develop angrophobia.

Do I Have a Fear of Anger?

In general, people with angrophobia tend to go out of their way to avoid conflict. Many become passive and quiet, allowing others to take the lead. Those with a more severe fear may intentionally isolate themselves, avoiding social situations that they perceive as having a chance for conflict.

When conflict arises, people with angrophobia tend to look for escape routes. Leaving the house, walking out of business meetings, and deserting friends at a restaurant or bar are common reactions. If escape is impossible, those with this fear often withdraw into themselves, cutting off communication until the crisis is over.

Conflict avoidance is not always indicative of this phobia. Only an extreme fear will rise to the level of a phobia. A healthcare professional can help determine the severity of your symptoms.

Complications

Anger is an unavoidable human emotion. Although many of us express anger in unhealthy ways, choosing not to express it at all can be just as dangerous.

Increased feelings of fear and anxiety, hopelessness, depression, and guilt can be common results of these behaviors. Suppressing these feelings can then lead to self-doubt and even self-loathing. Eventually those who suppress their feelings are at an increased risk for snapping, unloading their pent-up emotions on themselves or others in destructive ways.

Treatment

Angrophobia is largely rooted in erroneous thoughts and beliefs about anger. Treatment generally focuses on working through the original conflicts that caused the fear and exploring anger as a more neutral feeling. Psycho-education is often an important part of treatment to help you learn new ways to express anger in a healthy and healing manner.

Learning to Accept and Manage Anger

Some of these strategies for managing or calming—rather than avoiding—your anger may include:

• Exercise
• Deep breathing
• Journaling
• Reaching out to a loved one

If you allow yourself to confront feelings of anger and deal with them in constructive ways, you may find your fears or anxieties over the possibility of anger diminishing. Exposure therapy, a common treatment for phobias, allows you to face your fear in a safe environment, to help you understand that it's not as dangerous as you may feel it is. If you learn to deal with anger issues as they come, you'll probably feel less worried about turning into the Hulk.

Battling a phobia is never easy, and confronting deep-seated feelings may take some time. With hard work, the right support systems, and a skilled therapist, however, it is possible to conquer angrophobia.