The sense that anger has reached pandemic levels in the US and across the world is inescapable. Political divisions at home feel the sharpest and most urgent they have since the early 70s, and ours only mirror a growing wave across much of Europe and beyond long-accepted tenets of liberal Democracy – hard won in many Eastern European countries and still in struggling infancy elsewhere – are challenged by reactionary forces mobilized by fear and uncertainty. The Red/Blue divisions that have dominated American politics for so long seem more polarized than ever, as “crossing the aisle” to actually reach compromise or accomplish anything worthwhile is anathema. Even locally, where politics are usually at least somewhat removed from the reach of national and international intrigue, outrage rules. No school bond issue, zoning variance, downtown development plan, or any other political decision comes without a fight, and usually a rancorous one at that.
If a magazine article or Facebook post about something a Kardashian did, said, wore, ate, birthed, or hooked up with can inspire days of outrage and debate, imagine what something that matters will do. For a lot of us, our anger is set to a hair trigger, ready –eager even –to go off at the slightest provocation. And for a lot of us, this fact creates a distinct unease; we know we are angry and are acutely aware of both how addictive it is and how uncomfortable it makes us feel. It feels ever-present, if just lurking below the surface, and, for many, a source of shame and sadness.
And this is as true for police officers as for anyone else.
Understanding anger
Anger is both emotion and feeling. Although emotion and feeling are often considered interchangeable, they are really separate but related. Consider emotion as the physiological response to a stimulus; fear might prompt rapid heartbeat, increased respiration, sweaty palms and flushed skin, and heightened awareness. But so too might excitement, infatuation, or our present topic of anger. Emotional responses are largely unconscious and nearly instantaneous. Feelings are how we cognitively interpret that response and apply meaning or definition, and something over which we have at least a modicum of control.
The sense of anger as either emotional response or feeling is troubling to a lot of us. We’re taught or conditioned that to experience or express anger is wrong, indicative of a weak will or inability to “control our emotions.” This is reinforced today where examples of angry lashing out are on full display on social media, the nightly news, and, for cops, a significant portion of the calls they respond to. The message that anger (or anxiety, jealousy, frustration, or any other “negative” emotion or feeling, really) is shameful is strong. That message is wrong.
Anger is necessary! It is a highly evolved response to perceived threats to our emotional or physical well-being and is necessary for our survival. Properly used, anger sends the message something is not right, that a threat exists, and helps us identify and confront it. Improperly used or inadequately addressed, the emotional response holds sway over a curious examination of feeling, threats go unaddressed, and what should be a short-term response can trend toward troubling permanency.
Those physiological changes we undergo when angry? They are intended to be a temporary response. We are not meant to live full-time with elevated heart rate and blood pressure, and the adrenaline and noradrenalin that dumps into our system, if not dissipated, will begin to act on us much as a poison. Anger is no longer a warning; it becomes a way of life and living with unresolved anger can lead to physical changes (high blood pressure, ulcers, etc) or turn into depression or anxiety disorders.
Sources of LEO anger
Since we began looking at anger and cops several years ago, we have tended to break the common sources into three categories for the sake of convenience:
External sources are those that impact LEOs, individually or as a group, that are directly related to the law enforcement job but come from outside the officer's work or home site. We looked at the role of the media (news and entertainment), social media, the public, the existing political climate, and other factors in creating stress that leads to anger.
Cops are scrutinized by not just the media but others in the public who hold strong opinions about how they should do their jobs while having virtually no understanding of what the job is about. They are, to some extent, at the mercy of politicians who are advised and informed about the realities of law enforcement by police administrators who may be years or even decades removed from when they were active officers themselves, knowledgeable in the realities of policing. Law enforcement is a highly visible but poorly understood career, and this can lead to baseless and frustrating criticism and direction.
Internal work sources also impact LEOs, individually or as a group, and are directly related to the law enforcement job, but originating within either the agency or somewhere else within the officer's work life. Departmental policy, procedural, personnel, or disciplinary decisions that seem to defy logic or fairness are a pervasive source of frustration. Frustration with equipment, training, or staffing issues is frequently expressed, and many LEOs feel unsupported by their administration or supervisors when they feel various external pressures bearing down on them.
Internal personal sources stem from the LEO’s personal life and include family issues, strained friendships, and any manner of psychosocial issues not related, or indirectly related, to external or internal work sources.
Although anger has value and purpose, it can be a destructive force when not properly understood, or when its presence is distressing to someone experiencing it. This can said for any of our more “uncomfortable” emotions and feelings. What most people desire is for it to simply go away and seek therapy looking for ways to make it disappear. Increasingly, and with great success, therapists have been helping clients suffering with anxiety, depression, and anger not by teaching them to do away with these often troubling emotions, but by showing them how to flow through them in a way they can viewed with curiosity and acceptance. It is in giving up the fight that victory is achieved.
In our next article we will further address the some of the basics of acceptance, and how it can benefit someone struggling with anxiety, depression, and anger.
