This article was written by a Kooth writer and contains the following themes: anger, emotions, parts of the brain

Anger can be one of the most tricky emotions we experience, and it is often seen as quite negative.

Anger is an emotion, like happiness or sadness. It can be helpful to try and move away from thinking of emotions as good or bad, and instead think of them as comfortable and uncomfortable, or pleasant and unpleasant.

Sometimes, understanding the purpose of our emotions can help us to become more comfortable them.

In this article, we’re going to be exploring what happens in our bodies and brains when we feel angry, and the changes that it can cause. We’ll also look at some ways we can manage anger if it’s something that feels distressing.

What happens to our brains?

For us to feel anger, we usually experience a trigger first. This can be anything, and not everyone will feel angry about the same things. But common triggers include being shouted at, or feeling unfairly treated.

Sometimes, there is no trigger. If this is the case, anger can be unpleasant, perhaps even distressing. If you find yourself getting angry a lot and aren’t sure why, it might help to talk to someone. You can always chat to the lovely Kooth team by clicking on the speech bubbles at the top of the page, Monday to Friday 12-10pm and weekends 6-10pm.

When our brains detect this trigger, the part of our brain known as the amygdala sounds the alarm.

The amygdala is an important part of the brain, as it detects threats and helps our body to respond to them. Its job is to judge the things around us and determine whether they are important, and if they are, whether they are good or bad.

It is one of the first parts of our brains to develop when we are in the womb. Scientists think it might have been one of the first parts of the brain to evolve in our ancestors, millions of years ago!

It might help to think of it like the brain’s security guard. If it sees something that might be a threat, it immediately presses the alarm button and puts our body on high alert; the amygdala will always prefer to have us ready to face a threat that isn’t there, than be taken by surprise.

Once the warning bell has been sounded, our hypothalamus – which is the command centre of the entire brain – takes over, and starts getting us ready for a fight.

You might have heard of the “fight or flight” response. Anger is the “fight” part of this. Our brain sees a threat – for example, a huge tiger – and it immediately begins to prepare to either fight it, or run away from it.

This is very similar to what happens when we experience anxiety; however, there is a key difference in what happens next.

The time between the amygdala detecting a threat and alerting the hypothalamus is less than a second. That’s why we’re able to react instantly to a threat. If we see a tiger running towards us, we don’t want to stop and think about it – we want to be able to jump out of the way!

We call this “amygdala hijacking”, because the amygdala “hijacks” (takes control of) the brain, and dictates what will happen.

Orbital Frontal Cortex

After a couple of seconds, however, another part of the brain kicks in, called the orbital frontal cortex. Think of this like the brain’s brake system – it’s there to say “woah, are we sure this is the best way to react?”

The orbital frontal cortex is essential for when we get angry, as it helps to stop us from responding to a situation aggressively. It wouldn’t be very comfortable, for example, if our teacher told us off, and we started shouting back at them. We can thank our brain’s braking system for keeping us out of detention.

Imagine it like a car swerving out of control. The amygdala grabs hold of the steering wheel and stops us from crashing, and the orbital frontal cortex then safely parks us at the side of the road.

Some people will find it harder to take back control of the amygdala, however. When we find ourselves lashing out in response to being shouted at, or shouting back, it’s usually because the orbital frontal cortex hasn’t been able to take control back from the amygdala.

This can happen because there are so many hormones flooding your body that you can struggle to see the situation from an empathic (feelings-based) point of view.

And things like lack of sleep, feeling hungry, being too warm, and not having enough to drink can all make it harder to keep anger in check.

It’s not just the brain that experiences changes when we get angry, however – read on to find out what happens to the rest of our bodies when we start to feel our tempers rise.

What happens to the body?

The good news is, anger doesn’t tend to make us turn into giant green monsters like the Hulk.

When our brain gets the warning signal, it begins to flood the body with hormones. This is when we start to feel tense. Our muscles get tighter, so that we can protect ourselves if necessary.

Sometimes, we can notice the physical signs of being angry or afraid without noticing there’s a physical reason.

We might notice that we’re clenching our fists, or our jaws feel really tight, or our shoulders might be really tense. These are all signs that the body thinks there’s a threat.

The process of unwinding from feeling angry can sometimes take a while – that’s why it’s often a good idea to avoid trying to talk about any issues that might have led to the angry episode until at least twenty minutes after you feel the signs of anger passing.

It can help to practise some self soothing techniques during this time, regardless of the initial trigger, as this will help your body get rid of the hormones causing the physical reactions faster. It will also help prevent your amygdala from storing the event as a difficult or uncomfortable memory.

And you can actually “trick” your brain into being soothed, by addressing the physical symptoms of anger first, helping your brain to realise there’s no threat.