Misdirected Anger Lash Outs

Dear Tyrant,

Well, the good news is that you for the most part keep anger under control. It is probably correct to say that most people do not see you as an Angry Person. But you do have a good deal of stress in your life, which is the case for many people nowadays.

You mentioned that you used to behave violently in order to relieve stress. Well, indulging in Violent Behavior doesn’t actually relieve Stress, but, in fact, if you ever noticed, the Violence tends to escalate the Stress and make it worse. It’s not like you can come home feeling a bit stressed out from work, and then punch a hole in the wall, scream your lungs out until you are ready to pop a blood vessel, smash every dish in the kitchen, and then say to yourself, “Oh, I feel so much better now… I think I will take a little nap”. It doesn’t work that way, does it? It just winds you up even more… it just stresses you out even more, right? You know, think about it. Yes, everyone SAYS that ‘blowing off steam’ helps, but ‘Everyone’ doesn’t know what he’s talking about. ‘Everyone’ is full of misinformation and you need to start reading books by actual Psychologists – the real deal.

Now about the little hamster. First, I don’t actually believe you have any really solid reason for disliking it. It is a male and I guess you generally prefer females, BUT, this is a little animal. Sex does not matter in regards to little animals. I have cats, and I have found that the males are actually a bit more companionable than the females, but if one selects one’s pets well, they all have something to like and admire. Your Dislike is coming from some prejudice in your head. For instance, with myself, when I was young I really simply did not like the French Language. But as I got older and wiser, my prejudice against the French Language started to seem rather silly. I had read every Literary Work in English and needed a New Language, and, well, French has a Literature – there are Hundreds of Great Works of Literature in the French Language. So I learned French. Now my old prejudice against French seems like it was kind of silly. I think you will come to find that over-emphasizing the gender of your pet rodents will one day seem kind of silly to you.

Now, about your Ritualized Abuse of the little Hamster. What is happening there is I believe you crave some kind of excitement or adrenaline rush, and so you start by acting aggressively to the little hamster. Of course the poor little thing does not deserve any of this abuse, and that is perhaps the factor that starts the Adrenaline flowing… the sense of Outrage and Injustice Against your Very Self. I believe you really want to harm yourself, and the poor little rodent is a surrogate. The excitement releases Adrenaline and that Amplifies and Escalates the Situation. You become angry and destructive. Thank God you have strong Inhibitions or that poor little thing would be dead. Many young adults get psychologically addicted to killing small animals, so much so, that often pet stores will stop selling rodents to people who do not buy larger cages, in the premise that if they are buying rodents but no cages, then what is happening to the rodents!?

Anyway, you really need to stop such embarrassing behavior. The best kind of book for you would be from the Cognitive Behaviorist School of Psychology. These kind of books will get you to reflect on the rationality of the Thoughts and Feeling that arise within you. You know, just because You Think It does not mean it is a good idea worth entertaining. If an Idea is not a good one, well, we are all Free to just put such thoughts aside…. Although that does take a certain amount of practice.

Dear Leo,

Thanks so much for the quick reply.

I have noticed that doing angry actions just make me angrier and sometimes it's like a chain reaction. Even simple things like a book that falls off my shelf could set me off but that's pretty rare.

About psychological books though, I feel as if I'd read the info but forget what I've read later on. The only books I can easily recall are novels that I enjoy. I can't honestly say I would read a psychological book.

I believe you're right about the Adrenaline flowing and excitement stuff. I don't do anything during the day that would get me excited if that has anything to do with this. Anyway this was the second time I acted out on the little guy and I feel bad doing it but while in the heat of the moment I can't stop my actions.

I've calmed down since last night so I'm not in an angry state of mind anymore. Do you know if there are any pills that get rid of intense anger or would it be better to gradually work the problems out?