Following article reflects the causes of

anger and its cure.

Irritability and depression
Anger happens, it's just part of life. But if you have depression you
can add anger to the list (along with sadness, fearfulness, trouble
sleeping, and changes in appetite) of common depression
symptoms.

"If you find you're very short-tempered, irritable, grouchy, your fuse
is short, it could be related to depression," says Carol A. Bernstein,
MD, associate professor of psychiatry at NYU Langone School of
Medicine in New York City.

Depression treatment may lessen anger. But there are things you
can do to blunt the effects of this intense and sometimes dangerous
feeling.


Do count to 10 (or 100)
Thomas Jefferson famously said, "When angry, count 10, before you
speak; if very angry, 100."

"Angry people are highly aroused and when people get aroused, they
do and say things they later regret," says Brad Bushman, PhD,
professor of communication and psychology at The Ohio State
University in Columbus.

Counting (slowly) to whatever number seems appropriate gives your
blood pressure and heart rate a chance to return to normal. "As time
passes, arousal diminishes," says Bushman.


Do forgive
Even if you don't ultimately forget the incident, forgiving a person
who has provoked you is an excellent way to subdue anger, says
Bushman. Forgiveness can help you stop ruminating, which is when
negative thoughts play over and over in your head like some horrible
movie scene.

"Angry people can't stop thinking about what made them angry. It's
that rumination that seems to be destructive," he adds. "This doesn't
mean that you conclude that what another person did to you is okay.
It just means that you're not going to hold that against them and
you're not going to let it consume your life."


Do distract yourself
Another way to dial it down is with distraction. Katherine Kueny,
PhD, director of behavioral medicine in the department of internal
medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha,
tells people to place themselves on an emotional scale of 1-to-10
with 10 being the most angry.

"When the scale is at 5-to-10, I tell people to do something that will
bring the emotions down before you interact or try to problem
solve," she says.

This could be drawing, cooking, taking a walk or finishing a Sudoku
puzzle or crossword puzzle.

Do take a deep breath
Taking deep breaths is one good way to calm yourself when you're in
the throes of anger. "Slow breaths will slow the heart rate down,"
says Kueny.

The American Psychological Association recommends taking deep
breaths from the diaphragm, not shallow ones from the chest. But
listening to calming music and muscle relaxation exercises may also
help, says Bushman.

Some people have found help in yoga, which also emphasizes
breathing.