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Productive Anger versus Unhealthy Anger In its purest sense, anger is a normal, healthy emotion. It is a warning signal that something is wrong. It can alert an individual of the potential for physical or psychological trauma. Anger can provide the energy to resist emotional or physical threats, allowing defense or escape. Anger aids in our awareness of emotional or physical boundaries and helps individuals set healthy limits. Anger can also mobilize us to make much-needed changes in our world when we are faced with injustices. When not properly expressed, however, anger can come out “inappropriately” in the form of road rage, hurtful humor, procrastination, illness, memory loss, chronic lateness, gossip, depression, or violence. Counseling and Psychotherapy can begin the process of distinguishing between healthy and unhealthy anger and the importance of working toward emotional, physical, mental, social and cultural balance in order to experience healthy, constructive anger rather than anger’s more destructive counterparts.

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