Why does DOLIF psychology call Anger “the forgotten Emotion“? If we look at animal behavior, we see that Anger is an important driving force behind behavior. In the animal world we readily find unbridled snarling, teeth-gnashing, snorting and fighting. Yet even though it is certain that Anger constitutes a vital part of the human condition too, this important Emotion lacks representation in psychology. When we refer to the list of mental disorders in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders), we find that the great majority of psychiatric diagnoses, such as Bipolar disorder, OCD, Phobias or Eating Disorders, are believed to center around Anxiety and Depression. By comparison, diagnoses that feature Anger as central to their dynamics are very few. In adults, the best known diagnoses are Psychopathy or Sociopathy, while in children, Angry behavior mainly falls under the labels of Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder. The fact that Anger is under-emphasized and almost missing from the list of known diagnoses means that this essential Emotion lacks explanation and understanding in human motivation and behavior. It also indicates that, of the Emotions studied by our social sciences, Anger and its manifestations through behavior such as adolescent rebellion, social oppositionalism or criminal acts is the most denied and most poorly handled. As an Emotion that causes so much disruption to our lives, there is little doubt that Anger merits far more of our attention and scrutiny by conventional research.
Some evidence of our reluctance to face Anger is found in the way we deal with criminals. This is the population in whom Anger is manifested most blatantly and intensely, and is most socially disruptive. For those who cause others to suffer by openly releasing their Anger and aggression toward society, our solution is to punish them, fine them, incarcerate or even execute them. It’s easy to deal with these individuals by marginalizing them and wash our hands by mobilizing our legal system against them. Yet of course at the same time, our actions are justifiable in terms of protecting the health and welfare of the society as a whole. We hear cries of frustration from victims of crime and their families. We hear outrage from law enforcement, legal advisors, judges and citizens. These hateful aggressors cause us so much consternation and upset, and inflict such a high cost on our society, and yet we have little or no understanding of the causes, and virtually no solutions. Reporters of crime continually rehash the circumstances of heinous crimes, even calling their stories “juicy” when they involve love, sex or money. And when they address the perpetrators, the interviewers classically demand to know their motivations by persistently asking them WHY? WHY? WHY?!!! A good example of this is contained in one of my blogs where Lisa Ling interviewed Bart Whitaker, and her first question to him was WHY on earth he had tried to murder his entire family? However, aren’t we also partly to blame for our reluctance to study, understand or deal with Angry behavior? How then should we treat this population, and where can we find legitimate psychological therapy for them – besides trying to “train” them not to do what they are doing?
The most likely explanation for the omission of Anger from common study in psychology is that Angry feelings are uncomfortable, distasteful and too upsetting for people to discuss. We deny Anger exists as part of our own psyche, and hesitate to admit that we too experience seething Anger at times, or that we ever allow it to go out of control. Yet there is no doubt that, much like the animal world, Anger is a fixed human Emotion, and although we may prefer to deny it and forget about our most aggressive members of society, WE ALL harbor Anger and encounter it every day of our lives!
(Continued in the blog titled “The DOLIF Explanation of Anger in the Human Psyche”.)
