Coping With Angrophobia or the Fear of Anger

While everyone gets angry, some people have better control over their anger than others. When someone suffers from angrophobia, or the fear of anger, they truly fear getting angry because their anger is often so out of control that it's frightening.

Overview

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 become reclusive.

Causes

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.

Symptoms

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.

Complications

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

Increased feelings of fear and anxiety, hopelessness, depression, and guilt are common results. 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, as clients learn new ways to express anger in a healthy and healing manner.

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