Anger or Mental Illness

Anger is a momentary madness, so control your passion or it will control you-Horace

The majority of my clients fall under the category of the garden variety “rageaholic.” The majority of them have good reason to be angry. They just have not discovered how to express it in productive ways. From time to time, I will come in contact with an individual who can’t be reasoned with. No matter how they try, they can’t seem to get a grip on their aggression. Many of these individual suffer from mental illness.

Anger management is not therapy. Anger management is education. It is my hope to assist clients in becoming aware of anger and teach you techniques to handle it. In the case of a mentally ill individual, the cause of their rage is often of a chemical nature. Anger management education may only deter the individual from getting professional psychological help.

Jason was a twenty three- year-old tall lanky African American young man. He grew up in the inner city of Los Angeles, California. Although cliché, he loved to play basketball and aspired to be a rap artist.

Jason’s father escorted his son to his first anger management class. They described to me a series of incidents in which Jason slashed his girlfriend tires, followed her throughout the city and then threatened her life. As a consequence he was ordered to complete twenty-six hours of anger management education.

Jason was extremely difficult to instruct in class. He was disruptive and seemed not to possess the ability to take responsibility for his actions. In fact, he was convinced that his girlfriend, father, the police and eventually myself were out to get him.

After several absences Jason’s father informed me that it had become progressively difficult to convince Jason to complete his anger management classes. He would leave the house for days and could not account for his whereabouts. Jason attended one more class before I lost contact with him. Once neatly groomed, Jason appeared disheveled and un-kept. His hair was randomly twisted in sections and his clothes reluctantly hung from his body. Jason’s Dad informed me that this would be his last session, as Jason was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

I recalled my abnormal psych classes and new that the disease often strikes between the ages of seventeen and twenty-five-years-old. I wished them both good luck and closed his file.

Anger can be a symptom depression, bi-polar disorder and anxiety. Make sure when seeking help you rule out the possibility of a serious mental disorder.

Daybreak Counseling Service

next article