Anger and Aggression are two very general terms used by many of us in our day-to-day life. Anger is a fairly strong emotional reaction which accompanies a variety of situations such as being physically restrained, being interfered with, having one’s possessions removed, observing or hearing of actions or events that one regards as morally repugnant, or being attacked or threatened, etc. Anger is often identified by a collection of physical reactions, including particular facial grimaces and body positions characteristic of action in the autonomic nervous system, particularly the sympathetic division. Just like many emotions, anger is extremely difficult to define justly. 

Aggression on the other hand is also an extremely general term used for a wide variety of acts that involve attack, hostility, etc. Typically, it is used for such acts as assumed to be motivated by any of the following : 

(a) fear of frustration; 

(b) a desire to produce fear or flight in others; or 

(c) a tendency to push forward one’s own ideas or interests. While this will do as a loose but acceptable definition for both anger and aggression, they barely touch the nuances of usage in the psychological literature.

During the global pandemic, across all the social media platforms, state capitals and inside crowded grocery markets, we are seeing regular outbursts of rage and frustration everywhere. We are all feeling it too- it is only natural for us to feel that because we are all confined to our homes instead of going out.

With the entire situation being out of our control, feelings of anger and aggression have risen amongst the common masses. The term “from the comfort of your home” has lost all its essence. It has become difficult for people to differentiate between work time and family time, grocery lines have become slower, the vaccination lines have become longer and it has become difficult to get one bed, one oxygen cylinder and one shot of vaccine for us which otherwise would not have been the case.

There are a lot of factors right now that are contributing to our feeling of rage and frustration and the fact that we cannot cover it or suppress it anymore. I am listing some of these factors below :

  1. Uncertainty : The current situation has become unmanageable for many leading to stress & anxiety. Getting infected by the virus, getting the right treatment and reducing its severity and isolating yourself from others sounds really simple but the length of time required for all this is uncertain and uncertainty always evokes feeling of frustration and irritation among many. 
  2. Lack of Control : Not being able to control any of the precipitating factors of the virus is taking a toll on people. Restoring control is really vital at this point of time, which needs to be revived at a psychological level because it is making people susceptible to accepting simple truths and becoming aggressive towards anyone challenging their thoughts.
  3. Frustration : Frustration is defined as the act of blocking, interfering with or disrupting behaviour that is directed toward some goal which is a powerful originator of aggression. One such source of frustration for many of us right now is that we are forced to stay home, and we are already seeing a raise in the violence against children and partners.
  4. Need to Belong : All the social distancing rules are isolating humans from each other leading to feelings of loneliness and sadness which is again threatening their need to belong to another human being. Studies have shown that the need of being included is so strong among humans that they feel threatened if they are not included leading to feelings of aggression.

However, in these difficult times the least we can do is manage ourselves and prepare to live with this situation for the time being. We can do this by changing our reaction towards the feelings of anger and aggression by learning to be a good host to the emotion instead of being a victim of it. We can face these emotions instead of running away from them or avoiding them.

One way of doing this is by remembering the acronym R.A.I.N which stands for Recognise our feelings, Accepting them, Investigating the root cause of it and Nurturing it. 

  • You can start by recognising when you’re getting angry and acknowledging that feeling instead of indulging with it. 
  • Then, you have to accept that the feeling of anger is there and understand that it’s very natural to feel so.
  • After that, you can start investigating the sensations within your body. How are the feelings affecting your body? What changes do you notice?
  • Lastly, nurture the anger. It is important to acknowledge, accept and work on our emotions rather than denying them. 

However, it is also important to know that anger is a very challenging emotion and if you’re unable to deal with it, you can always seek help from a professional psychologist who can help you deal with this emotion in a more healthy manner. There are also many support groups for anger management which can help you connect with people having troubles similar to you and work together on the same.