Why are some people always angry?

Irate, vexed, aggrieved, furious, enraged, infuriated – however you choose to express your anger, make sure you know who bears the brunt of your rage.


Asked by: Jim Robinson, Cambridge

Medical reasons include a hyperactive thyroid, which increases metabolic rate, diabetes, which affects blood sugar levels, cardiovascular disease and dementia. Healthy people may resort to anger because they cannot deal with fear, disappointment, frustration or embarrassment. They want to control the world and cannot, or they feel a failure or worthless and blame others for everything that goes wrong. All this may have roots in past trauma or in poor parenting that leaves children ill-equipped to understand and cope with their own and others’ varying emotional states.

Anger often harms the angry person more than anyone else. There’s no quick fix but a good start is to recognize your own anger and what triggers it as soon as it begins.

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