Have you ever been so angry that you felt like you could breathe fire? Anger is one of our most primitive emotions. Feeling angry creates an adrenaline rush in our bodies and our brains. This feeling overcomes you and you feel like superman taking over the world. The rage keeps the adrenaline pumping and for most this is a great feeling and we want to keep feeling it so we stay on a semi-constant state of range. We stay on the verge of outrage. It’s almost like being drunk. You become a rageaholic.
Rageaholics react to strong emotions, such as feelings of fear, sadness, shame, inadequacy, guilt or loss with rage. Raging gives the rageaholic a feeling of power. Rage sets up a neurochemical reaction in the brain that can be addictive, producing what is know as rageaholism or rageaholics.
A rageaholic is someone who feeds on expressing rage. Like the alcoholic, the rage-aholic is addicted to blowing up. This is usually caused by the rageaholic stuffing back real feelings and emotions until it builds up the point that the rage-aholic snaps and goes crazy. Stress of any kind can be a trigger. It is a cry for love, but a fear to accept it.
All addictions have symptoms, which allow us to recognize these problems as addictive diseases. The signs of addictive diseases are self-stimulation, compulsion, obsession, denial, withdrawal and craving syndrome and unpredictable behavior.
Rageaholics feel that expressing anger is self-stimulating. It triggers the compulsion for more anger. Rageaholics can be compared to Alcoholics. The more an alcoholic drinks the more they want to drink. It’s the same with a Rageaholic. The more they rage, the more they want to rage.
Compulsion or loss of control is the inability to stop expressing anger once we have begun. The inability to control angry words is a certain sign of rageaholism. The loss of control is an addiction. Anger addiction or “rageaholism” is the compulsive pursuit of a mood change by repeatedly engaging in episodes of rage despite adverse consequences. Rageaholics will continue to range compulsively without regard to the negative consequences.
Rageaholics are frequently thinking about resentment and they have fantasies of revenge. Sometimes this is all they think about. When the force of anger becomes so strong it is sometimes irresistible and the anger is followed by action. The “wrongs” of others and the want for revenge continually leads to rage. The life of a rageaholic eventually becomes chronically revenge-oriented. At that point anger takes over completely.
Denial keeps anger trapped. Rageaholics, like those with other addictions, refuse to admit that there is a problem. They believe in their minds that everything is fine and they will seldom admit that they are ever wrong. Denial ensures that the process of rage and righteous indignation will continue.
Anger has a detoxification period, just with any addiction. Craving is high during this time. Those who restrain themselves from name-calling, profanity and yelling during detoxification have more depression than usual for the first three months. Ragers will feel vulnerable and spend a lot of time thinking and hoping for a situation that will allow them to use violence for some heroic purpose. After 90 days the rageaholic may no longer think in profane or disparaging terms. They may even find it shocking to hear it when others do it.
Rageaholics have very unpredictable behavior. Like an alcoholic who may drink appropriately from time to time, a rageaholic may express anger in the proper way from time to time. When alcoholics begin to drink no one knows what will happen. This is the same for a rageaholic. When they start to express anger no one knows how far it is going to go. The most likely thing is that they will explode, rant and rave.
Cutting down on stimulants, such as caffeine and nicotine can help control anger. Caffeine can make you feel irritable and on edge. In order to cut down on the level of nicotine in your cigarettes switch to a lighter brand. Some rageaholics have a steady diet of caffeine, nicotine or both. These chemicals must be reduced and eventually eliminated idealistically.
It is important for a rageaholic to have a steady diet of three meals a day. Rageaholics rarely take the time to nutritionally nurture themselves. Stress creates a high risk for rage. Taking the time to prepare a proper meal can have a calming effect on the mind.
Supplements are also necessary to prevent rage. Most rageaholics lead very stressful lives. This stress depletes the body of essential vitamins and minerals. Rage attacks cause further nutritional depletion, which promotes more raging behavior. Taking a good, solid multi-vitamin containing the antioxidant selenium on daily basis is helpful. B Vitamins are also of great significance.
Rageaholics may have heart and blood-pressure difficulties. Vitamin E helps with both of the illnesses. Both of these illnesses have been tied to stress factors and unresolved anger. Deficiencies in Vitamin E have also been linked to breast and bowel cancer.
Rage is a shame based expression of anger. It is by definition abuse. If a rageaholic wants live then they have to be free of anger just as an alcoholic has to be free from alcohol. Finding help is easy but accepting it takes strength and courage. A normal life awaits the rageaholic.
