Not an Anderson & Anderson Approved Anger Management Method

Whack your boss is not a suggested method of anger management. Research has shown that participating in this type of anger displacement can actually INCREASE your hostility and aggressiveness.

So DON'T visit Whack your boss. It's unhealthy. It's antisocial. It's bad for you.

If everybody starts to fantasize like this, we might have a COMMUNIST REVOLUTION!

If you can score 17 ... well, then you're a sicko!!!

The Sledgehammer Anger Management Class

A student group at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., has found a way to make money off the frustration that misbehaving computers generate.

On Thursday, the Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Graphics and Interactive Techniques (ACM-SIGGRAPH) is holding Anger Management 101. Students can hit surplus computer equipment with a sledgehammer after paying a modest charge -- $1 for every 15 seconds with a maximum of one minute per student. Source: UPI-1-20070424-16380400-bc-us-computersmash.xml

At $240.00 per hour, this is much more expensive than your average anger management class! But is it effective? Doesn't it help anger management to occasionally smash something or blow off steam?

Studies say "no." While venting one's anger on an inanimate object may seem like an attractive option, it is not helpful. Often, people punch pillows, hit the wall, or smash things — but these behaviors only intensify anger in the end. Attempting to vent anger me feel good temporarily (because one gets the chance to burn off adrenaline), but it leads to increasing and intensifying hostile and aggressive behaviors.

Thich Nhat Hanh asks why a person would hit a pillow when they're angry "The pillow has done them no harm!" Anger does not exist in the object of venting - or even in the target of aggression. Our anger exists only between our own ears.

Since we create our own anger in our own minds, we must manage anger within our own minds. Tools such as keeping an anger journal help us do this. Taking an anger management class and learning the skills of non-violent communication, stress management, and emotional intelligence help us do this. Smashing things does not.