Managing Anger In A Pandemic

Here in Hong Kong, we’ve been battling uncertainty since May 2019 – first the protests, then the pandemic. And, as DR QURATULAIN ZAIDI of Mind N Life explains, it has taken a toll on the mental wellbeing of many people.

- Dr Quratulain Zaidi

Prolonged uncertainty causes heightened anxiety. It forces your survival brain to constantly update your world and make judgments about what’s safe and what isn’t. When certainty is questioned, your stress response goes into overdrive; a fight-or-flight reaction follows, prompting you to take action and get to safety.

Over the past 18 months or so, I’ve seen an increase in a variety of mental health and relationship challenges stemming from feelings of hypervigilance, increased stress, fear, anger, anxiety and loneliness; all of which can result in depression, PTSD and substance misuse.

Facing anger

Unfortunately, the factors that are causing us so much emotional turmoil aren’t going away any time soon. So, instead of trying to bury or ignore our emotions, we need to be more honest about our rage and where it comes from.

Anger is a complicated emotion, and its expression can be profoundly impactful on the person feeling it, and the people around. It can have a devastating impact on relationships, too.

We often feel irritable when we’re fatigued, sick or under-resourced. Currently, many people are experiencing many of these stressors at once, be it from overdue bills, or juggling work and childcare. When we’re stretched thin, inadequacy grows and our feelings of control and confidence shrink. In this “vortex”, it’s easy to assume that eliminating stressors will fix the problem. But trying to control stress doesn’t make irritability and frustration disappear – especially when there’s a crisis as big as COVID-19. Psychologically, we know that irritability is often a sign that other emotions have been suppressed.