Techniques for reducing aggressive behavior.
Day in and day out we read or hear about cases of aggression; a woman was severely beaten by her partner or a child was bullied at school. Unfortunately aggression is like a seed, and the more you feed this type of behavior the bigger and stronger it gets. Even though scientists have tried to study the cause of aggression, it has been proven to be increasingly difficult, but they have come to an agreement that if someone wants to get better and reduce his/her aggressive behavior, there are techniques that he/ she can adopt.
First of all, frustration and attack are major sources of anger; therefore, a more effective technique for reducing aggression might be to reduce the potential for them to occur. How you do that? By taking some time-out. A time-out means walking away from the situation, literally and metaphorically, which gives you some time to think, to calm down and get your control back. Another technique that helps reduce aggression is to find ways to release this feeling. Freud used the analogy of a steam pot that will burst if the energy is not released. The same thing happens to us. When we feel angry and don’t let ourselves get this feeling out, we either displace this aggression to someone weaker, like our children, or to strangers, like people in our neighborhood. That is why psychologists say that there are two types of aggressive people; the ones that act upon their feelings, either by shouting or being violent the moment they are frustrated, or the silent ones that one day without any other indication, take a gun and kill people on the street. One way to let some “steam blow” is by engaging in energetic activities, such as walking, running, or any other form of exercise. Besides, it is scientifically proven that exercise releases hormones in our bodies that act as a natural “drug”. Last but not least, try not to ruminate on the causes of your anger and focus on maximizing your happiness, for yourself and others. Choosing love and happiness even at times that you feel angry strengthens your sense of well-being.
