Anger: The Misunderstood Emotion [Paperback]

This landmark book (San Francisco Chronicle)dispels the common myths about the causes and uses of anger— for example, that expressing anger is always good for you, that suppressing anger is always unhealthy, or that women have special anger problems that men do not. Dr. Carol Tavris expertly examines every facet of that fascinating emotion—from genetics to stress to the rage for justice.

Fully revised and updated,Anger: The Misunderstood Emotionnow includes:

* A new consideration of biological politics: Should testosterone or PMS excuse rotten tempers or aggressive actions?
* The five conditions under which anger is likely to be effective—and when it's not.
* Strategies for solving specific anger problems—chronic anger, dealing with difficult people, repeated family battles, anger after divorce or victimization, and aggressive children.Chapter 1

Rage and Reason -- an Eternal Ambivalence

Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.

Ecclesiastes 7:9

They have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

Deuteronomy 32:21

On the train to Brindavan a Swami sits beside a common man who asks him if indeed he has attained self-mastery, as the name Swami implies.

I have, says the Swami.

And have you mastered anger?

I have.

Do you mean to say that you have mastered anger?

I have.

You mean you can control your anger?

I can.

And you do not feel anger.

I do not.

Is this the truth, Swami?

It is.

After a silence the man asks again, Do you really feel that you have controlled your anger?

I have, as I told you, the Swami answers.

Then do you mean to say, you never feel anger, evels4