America's Anger Epidemic - Are you angry and what are you doing with it?

According to USA Today - 60% of Americans report being angry.
I'd bet a box of donuts it's a lot more than 'just' 60% being angry.

American Psychological Organization
Psychology Today - Why are Americans So Angry?

There is a growing discontent in the nation. And it’s getting worse. The shootings, the bombings, they are not independent random events. They are a symptom of a much larger epidemic that is at play.

We are a nation where many of our citizens are overworked, exhausted, financially strapped, alienated, and disconnected. We clock in day in and day out, and very often are left feeling unappreciated and uninspired. Of course we would be upset, agitated, and angry.

Americas Anger Epidemic. WHY?

Some are describing this as "America's anger epidemic." And there are a few reasons: uncertainty in the job market and the economy, working long hours -- on average about one month more now than they did in the 1970s and with less vacation.

A recent study from the USA Today found 60 percent of Americans report feeling angry or irritable. That is up from 50 percent when a similar poll was taken in 2011.

Good article - working in a toxic environment is draining and makes people angry -
Forbes - Working in a Toxic Work Environment

Recently, I had the occasion to observe a group of employees working in a toxic work environment. I witnessed the decline of self-esteem in each one of them as they endured month after month of poor leadership and dysfunction in the work place. I was truly amazed at the change in countenance of each of these employees as their situation continually grew worse.

That explains anger from work situations. How about other reasons ... More reasons for frustration and anger - The unemployed who want jobs and can't find them are angry and frustrated. real unemployment rate 15% Those of us who know the country is headed in the wrong direction but they can't do anything about it Rasmussen says that's 70-80% of us . Those of us being squeezed by the gov't having to pay for willful freeloaders. Unemployed, getting entitlements, sitting home smoking weed (take note - willful freeloaders are different from those who actually need help) Tens of millions losing their health coverage and/or their doctors. Tens of millions waking up to the fact that they can't trust the government. 10s of Millions Losing Health Care Plans The environment is toxic. Sickness. Chronic illness. CDC - 1/2 of Americans have some kind of Chronic Illness The stress of the world situation always on the brink of war by powers that we have no control over. The 'bully situation' in schools is worse than anyone admits. Public schools are dangerous places USA Today - Bully Survey The general lack of respect people have for each other like with 'the knockout game' . There is anger at 'God' for allowing massive tragedies like hurricanes and tsunamis and earthquakes. And there is general stupidity and lack of respect that we have to put up with ... all frustrating at the very least.

BUT .. all is not lost! Anger is an emotion not to be wasted. According to USA Today ... Anger is the internets most useful emotion. Article Here . And the Society of Psychological Science says that moods can spread. Psychological Science Article Here So if enough people are angry at a situation .. they COULD get together and change it.

ATS .... what are you angry about?
How are you channeling your anger?

FlyersFan
ATS .... what are you angry about?
How are you channeling your anger?

edit on 11/23/2013 by FlyersFan because: (no reason given)

Lol. Reading your post stressed me out, too many issues in there to digest all at once. All of it true to some degree.

The only thing that is different from my POV is the people wanting jobs and not being able to find them. I have had positions open for as long as six months and can’t fill the spots. That is what confusing to me. I hear about all the unemployed out there, but I can’t fill the spots I have to save my life. Where are these people?

I am not alone either. I have talked to several business owners in my area and they are all having the same problem. Is it because no one is interested in entry level positions? Is it because they make more on unemployment then they would be making in a new entry level position? I am unsure, but I can tell you that in my area, there are plenty of employers that are hiring, but no applicants to choose from.

With that said, I usually don’t get angry. It has never been beneficial to me in the past, usually more harmful then helpful. I do try and look for solutions to the problems/situations that are before me. And work on them either by diving head on into it or finding a backdoor that I can use to work around it. But sometimes there are no good solutions to the problems at hand.

Thanks,
Blend57

We know things are bad.....

reply to post by FlyersFan


I'm far less angry than I have been in many years, and I'm in a war zone right now. If I can do it, then others can too.

While I do find certain news unsettling and even aggravating, anger is something I am trying to let go of, and I've succeeded in many respects.

I do not want my daughter growing up in a household with an angry father, whether I am legitimately angry or not about one subject or another. It has taken me many years to undo the damage my father did to my family when I was growing up, I will not allow it to swallow mine up too.

Even with everything going on. The government march against individual rights. The disaster that is Obamacare, the fact that I'm deployed away from my beloved family...none of it makes me angry. In fact it merely makes me more determined to be better than before. To set an example. Not just for my family, but for my soldiers and my country.

If you're angry, find a way to make yourself happy. Carrying anger around is a burden far heavier than anything I've carried in the field.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Read a study a few years ago that tried to test for road rage. They had to stop the study because it had discovered that 100% of drivers had road rage! Driving a car is apparently a stressful task, and that may be contributing to the very high rate of anger not only in the U.S. but worldwide.

I wonder if driving a horse and buggy in the days before the horseless-carriage was as stressful (I'd guess it might have actually been calming, except in the big cities! I'm thinking of the recent thread which showed an old film of cars and horse-drawn vehicles driving in San Francisco, and that looked very stressful as there were no traffic signs and people ran across the street at nearly every moment).

Aleister
They had to stop the study because it had discovered that 100% of drivers had road rage!

Speaking first hand from living in the Philly/Wilmington area .. I have to agree with that.
It's really dangerous out there. And people are RUDE drivers. They purposely speed up
if they see you with a blinker (turn signal) on. Rude rude rude .... angry drivers.

reply to post by FlyersFan


What's the point of getting angry? It doesn't change anything and it's not gonna change. I am resigned to the fact that I'l never have anything I want, never get to travel, but I have the consolation that someday I'll die.

reply to post by FlyersFan


The government wants us angry. Anger breeds irrational behavior, and "they" want us irrational.

They want us a each others throat. If we're attacking each other then we can't attack "them".

being angry is bad....but being apathetic is worse....at least with anger you care about something, you want it to get better, to improve. but, with apathy, you just don't care at all.... terrible, monstrous, things can occur, and you simply ignore it, and go on with your life....that's what I'm truly afraid of...being exactly like those German civilians, who lived right next to those concentrations camps, and for years smelled the distinct odor of burning flesh, and went about their daily lives, apathetic to the thousands beings murdered right down the road.

The economic collapse of 07 has forever changed the economic realities of many people.

We are so removed from our natural habitat, animals in zoos go insane, should we expect us to be different?



Stress, there are so many laws on the books its almost impossible for Americans to go 24 hours with out breaking a law, this causes stress, add that to the stress of feeding yourself and your family, paying bills, while the news reports the rich just got a little richer.

The Zombie genre is so popular because so many people are so unhappy with our current system or society.

ldyserenity
What's the point of getting angry?

According to the articles ... with so many people being angry, that anger energy can get channeled into doing something constructive to stop whatever is making you angry. You might not be able to do it by yourself, but if enough people are angry, it could happen.

I'm skeptical. But that's what the information says.

I was angry...but I work it off at the gym these days.

Now I am honestly just disappointed.
Disappointed with the fact that so many people sit around and get lazy or fat. So many people spend all their money on things they absolutely can live without. So many corporations entire existence relies heavily on these same people to spend all their money on things these corporations produce that have enough money to manipulate the same "markets". So much marketing is directly aimed at getting you to think you need to spend all your money or go into debt in order to buy more things you absolutely do not need. Then there are holidays that specifically enrich this concept and idiots line up in droves to see it come to fruition. Yes, I am disappointed that this country is a sham. I was angry at the world for some time. Now I am frustrated. We are the power in this country yet we sit around and talk about what we should do, and we are not out doing what we are supposed to be doing. We fall for the same line belched from each "elected" officials bullcrap speech and get the same results. Einstein called it insanity. I just call it dumb. I am disappointed that so many people keep paying the same taxes year after year not realizing that we are paying for our own destruction. I am disappointed that so many people still think things are going to be "okay". I am extremely disappointed that people still think there is a left and right.

I am not angry anymore. There's no time to be angry.
Because of all this complacency for these past few decades, I have to spend my time preparing for the inevitable. This will not last.

I used to be real easy to fly off the handle , so to say
then I had my mercury fillings all removed from my mouth,
and two years later I divorced my wife, Now I feel much better.

Mercury is a neurotoxin that affects people in hundreds of ways, anger, anxiety
schizophrenia, depression, and a long list of other bodily health issues.

And wifes,.. well that alone can make anyone angry..



now the only thing that bothers me is how do I spend all the money
my ex wife was spending for me..

havok
Now I am honestly just disappointed.

Disappointment. Yep. I understand that. It can be draining.
Anger, on the other hand, can get a person fired up to make positive change.

i can see why many would go the anger route, what with the magnificent job our elected officials are doing world wide.

on that note anger is a learned response, just as many reactions are. there are things that hurt, physically and mentally, it's what we do with those initial feelings that matters. also to note is the hurt itself, mentally speaking it is us that chooses what hurts, if it hurts and what we'll do with it if anything. physical pain is not a learned response as many already know, how we respond although is.

these days i don't subscribe to mental hurt nor pain very much because there is really no point in wasting energy on it, i have found.

People are angry because everything they do and say is controlled and they have no outlet for their frustration. People can only eat so much anger before they pop. See shootings as evidence of said frustration.

Yoda says it best.
"Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate.. to suffering"

People work too much (those who work). Not enough time to spend with family and friends. I also do not think people know how to relax anymore. The minute a family sees a chance to relax they quickly fill up that time with a Wal Mart trip or they use the time to catch up on work. Add in the modern day political correctness garbage and the fact that everything is becoming illegal and we have a great recipe for anger.

When you are a human being but are forced to live your life like cattle, you are bound to become angry.

The wrongs that are being done to people today are the same wrongs that have been done to me for the last twenty years, why is it that I have been fighting against these things for all of these years and not a single person gave a damn about me suffering for all of these years, but now that it is starting to affect everyone else now it's all of a sudden a big deal, a lot of people or there need face the reality that the horrible things that many of you ( not including the ATS community, you all didn't know me throughout this crap in my life, I'm just generalizing ) had no problem with these things happening to me are now happening to you, you have to face reality that karma is biting you all in the as* for allowing these things to happen to me. One of the things I've learned about karma after all of these years is that you all have to mend things in my life before things will be mended in your lives. You will continue to suffer because of the way that you were willing to stand there and do nothing about the suffering that was being inflicted on people like me who didn't deserve it, you all stood there while my rights were taken away from me unjustly, and did nothing. You all stood there and did nothing while a multi million dollar patent rights were stolen from me, not a single person stood in my defense, at this point in time it is now 12 years of my life that were stolen from me. What's more is no matter what happens from here on out , there is nothing that can be done to give those years of my life back to me, these things make me think of a saying I seen on facebook , " when they came for the Jews, I did nothing because I was not a Jew, when they came for the polish I did nothing because I was not polish , when they came for the French I did nothing because I'm not French, when they came for me there was no one left to stand up for me." You cannot allow suffering to happen to even the strongest of people like me and then expect those same people to help when that same suffering begins to afflict you.

Restricted
People are angry because everything they do and say is controlled and they have no outlet for their frustration. People can only eat so much anger before they pop. See shootings as evidence of said frustration.

people are angry because they want to be angry, they choose to be angry with the information at hand. i always marveled at how people view feelings, as if someone or something else has forced them on us, when in reality we chose them ourselves. good and bad things happen, cannot control that, what we do with them, is very much in our control.