7 Reasons Everyone Seems So Angry All the Time
I am a psychologist who literally teaches stress management to medical students and psychiatry residents. Every day, I help my patients cope more effectively with their stressors, including their anger. Sure, I am human, too, but if I am losing my cool, exactly how common is it?
The worldwide trend has been decidedly up. So, yes, the world is getting angrier. According to Gallup’s Global Emotions report, negative emotions remained at their highest level in 2023 (tied with 2022). Anger is a piece of this data, and it remains near an all-time high worldwide.
In the United States, air rage incidents have been trending up according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The roads are not faring much better with Consumer Affairs noting that 92 percent of Americans witnessed a road rage incident last year.
Following are some likely culprits related to why we are feeling angrier. At the end, I offer suggestions that you may be able to employ to help you cool off when you are feeling angry.
So, first off, why are we so angry?
- We are tired. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in three American adults report not getting enough sleep every day. The same document added that about 40 percent of adults report falling asleep during the day without meaning to at least once per month. Nearly half of us fall asleep during the day regularly? I was shocked by this. Since studies indicate that poor sleep is also predictive of more intense experiences of negative affect, especially anger, this is not a good sign for interpersonal harmony.
- We are overwhelmed. If your week is anything like mine, you have been bombarded by more emails each day than you can realistically sort through. According to Venngage, the average person receives 121 emails per day. True, most are probably insignificant, but some really matter. This requires us to remain vigilant so important notices do not go unnoticed. This state of constant arousal is stressful. As an example, my wife and I missed a re-enrollment deadline for our son’s school because we missed the email(s). So, the takeaway is that we need to stay on top of something nearly impossible to stay on top of or bad things will happen.
- We are afraid. The media plays a big role in this one, although so does reality. In my home city, Washington, DC, carjackings have been up for six straight years. According to a media report, these crimes can happen “anywhere and at any time.” Talk about fear-inducing. Some other crime statistics are actually down both in DC and cities throughout the United States, so it is a mixed bag. However, just watching the news is enough to scare someone. Since studies show a “fear promotes anger” model in the brain (especially the posterior insula and anterior insula), fear is a bad state to remain in from an anger management standpoint.
- We are hot. According to climate.gov, this was the warmest year on record, and that trend is likely to continue, unfortunately. Researchers have predicted that the climate crisis will “dramatically increase humans' exposure to risk factors known to cause aggressive and violent behavior” (Miles-Novelo & Anderson, 2023). In other words, the hotter the world becomes, the hotter we become, most likely.
- We are stuck in a zero-sum game. I used to tell my patients that life is not a zero-sum game, to take some pressure off them. While this remains true in many instances, the stakes are getting higher, unfortunately. By way of example, a neighbor asked me which camps I am putting my children in this summer. When I named a few possibilities, he said something like, “Oh, if you haven’t booked those yet, it’s too late.” This was in February. Other cities are similarly competitive. Just try getting last-minute reservations at that popular new restaurant. Yeah, it’s booked. If you go to church late on a holiday, good luck getting a parking spot or a seat. Life has indeed become more competitive, which creates tension, a precursor for anger when things do not work out.
- We are broke. Just as things are getting more competitive, they are similarly becoming more expensive. One does not need to look at inflation statistics to realize this. We just need to go to the supermarket or book a vacation. Not surprisingly, financial worries have been linked to greater psychological distress. Since anger can be a symptom of many psychological disorders, including depression, anxiety, alcoholism, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), psychological distress and anger can go hand in hand.
- We are in pain. According to the 2023 Gallup Global Emotions report, nearly one-third of the world is in physical pain daily. While this is tragic, it also contributes to anger in the world. Not surprisingly, studies document the link between chronic pain and the experience of anger. If you have ever been in pain, I am sure you can relate that it takes a toll on one’s mood to be suffering. It is very relevant to my own recent expressions of anger that I am recovering from surgery and have been in pain.
