Anger Heroin

Anger is a drug, and an addictive one at that.  When angry your heart rate, arterial tension (blood pressure), and testosterone production increase while the production of cortisol (the stress hormone) decreases.  More telling is that the left frontal region of the brain becomes more active when angry.  This region of the brain is usually associated with positive emotions like happiness and closeness, while the right frontal region of the brain is associated with negative emotions like sadness and fear and withdrawal.

What this means is that anger, while we generally look at it as a negative emotion, is processed by our brains as a positive one.  In other words, we are hardwired to enjoy anger.  Because it decreases the stress hormone and activates the closeness center of the brain we are naturally inclined to stay close to anger for as long as possible.

While there is nothing wrong with righteous anger (or anger that you feel for a just reason) there is a danger in holding on to that anger for so long that it becomes self-righteous anger (or anger that you feel just because it feels good to feel it).  Righteous anger is sometimes necessary and is completely understandable, but it should rise and then fade quickly.  Self-righteous anger is never necessary and speaks more to the fact that you have been caught up in an anger addiction than it speaks to any perceived slight against you no matter how you have justified it to yourself.

It is possible, however, to break free of anger addictions by replacing them with something else.  The best choice here is compassion.  Research from Stanford University has shown that the left frontal region is activated during meditation of monks focusing on compassion.  The same type of meditation has also been shown to reduce stress, which means that the levels of cortisol have dropped.  Compassionate meditation also lowers your heart rate and blood pressure, instead of increasing it like focusing on anger does.

What I take this to mean is that looking on your enemies (even if your enemy is yourself) with compassion instead of anger gives the same type of enjoyment to the body (lower levels of cortisol, activated left frontal region) without the negative side effects.  It has the power to break you free of an anger addiction.  Compassion is the methadone to your anger heroin.

My dad told me the other day while we were out eating that I should still be pissed off at Sam because of the car.  He didn’t understand why I wasn’t.  This is why.  I was angry for about 30 minutes and then realized that that anger would not only have a detrimental effect on me physically and psychically, but also a have detrimental effect on the relationship that I have with Sam.  I chose, instead, to look on the situation with compassion.  It was hard.  It’s still hard at moments.  The situation doesn’t suck less because I’m being compassionate and understanding, but it would definitely suck more if I were caught in an anger addiction.  It would be destructive to myself and those around me.

That is not my high.