Childhood Experience and Anger Management

Anger management issues are often closely connected to substance abuse, especially when an addict was exposed to anger, violence, and trauma as a child. Children of violent adults frequently become angry adults themselves and may be predisposed to abuse drugs or alcohol. Experiencing or witnessing violence and trauma at a young age can cause developmental delays, issues with emotional maturity, and personality changes. If substance abuse is combined with anger and emotional management issues, it is clear that during recovery, these issues will need to be addressed.

The team at Fresh Start of California understands that your addiction is not the only thing that we can help with. We know that many substance abusers suffered childhood trauma and will need help with anger management, counseling, and other services during rehab. Let our Orange County addiction and recovery experts work with you at Fresh Start of California.

Call Fresh Start of California to start the road to recovery today.

The Start of Addiction: When Did Your Emotional Growth Stop?

It makes sense that many people who are battling addiction and anger began their addiction at a young age when the skills of adult anger management and emotional stability were not yet fully formed. Developmental disruptions are often based upon the age of the start of substance use. If a person were to begin using at age 12, for example, emotional understanding and how they handle anger would be based upon an age 12 understanding. The tools a person uses may only be accessible to the age at which they started using because memory, comprehension, and retention of tools once a substance is involved can be impaired.

Rehabilitation, recovery, and moving forward may involve anger management, life skills, and learning how to function past adolescent behavior in these cases. This is the first example where anger management and rehab go hand in hand. It is crucial for addicts who were exposed to childhood trauma and those who began their addiction at a young age to learn how to handle anger and other adult emotions.

Anger as Reaction: The Effects of Substances on How We Handle Life

Many substances cause reactions that differ from the way react when sober. Drugs and alcohol can trigger anger or alcohol can exaggerate strong emotions including anger. Although some drink or use to smooth their emotional response, thus self-medicating, it often has the opposite effect. In these cases, it creates a cycle of strong emotion-drinking or using-anger or strong emotion-using or drinking more, etc.

Not only do substances change our reactions, but they also diminish impulse control. They make the abuser care less about what their actions will cause, the consequences of their actions or words, and about the damage that their anger does. Unfortunately, people who struggle with anger management are more prone to substance abuse.

Anger Management Provides Tools for Recovery

Anger management in rehab provides the tools that recovering addicts need to move forward and interact in healthy ways. These classes can help recovery patients learn to recognize triggers and cope with them. They also teach people in recovery to take responsibility for their actions and repair relationships destroyed during addiction.

What can you expect in anger management?

• You may talk about past experiences.
• You will identify personal triggers.
• You can learn healthy ways to manage anger.
• You will share feelings.
• You will learn to problem solve and learn productive anger management skills.
• You will learn about passive-aggressive behavior and how to avoid it.
• You will learn the difference between anger as an emotion and chronic anger as a personality trait.

Most of all, in anger management you will be given the tool to help prevent anger as a trigger for relapse. Preventing addictive behavior and substance abuse is a key component in relearning how to handle emotions.

The Truth of Anger Management and Rehab

People tend to turn to drugs or alcohol to cope with their feelings and avoid the discomfort of the unknown. This is especially true of negative emotions like sadness, pain, and anger. Unfortunately, the negative emotions and memories attached to them are only temporarily displaced by the substance. These will continue to build and grow in the shadows of addiction until they are faced with sobriety. Anger management as a supplement to rehabilitation is critical in moving forward and being able to work through the traumas of the past.

Anger management and rehab truly go hand in hand. At Fresh Start of California, we understand the importance of having an all-encompassing rehabilitation program. Let our Orange County addiction specialists help you find a program that works for you.

Contact Fresh Start of California to discuss treatment today.