Posted by antigua3 on July 30, 2009, at 11:12:21
In reply to Repressed anger causes anxiety/depression??, posted by garnet71 on July 29, 2009, at 21:51:29
You asked, "Why would one need to protect herself from feeling anger?" despite the fact that anger was present in your childhood. It was in mine, too, and while I can express anger in my day to day life now, I am afraid of anger that arises out of my past.
For me, I'm afraid that if I get angry, I will lose control, become the "bad" girl (as opposed to the "good" girl I've always been) and I won't be able to reign it in. I'm constantly told that I have to express the anger towards my abusers before I can really heal. Easier said than done, for me, that is. I just can't do it.
So I identify anger with losing control, and I don't want to go there. Also, I learned not to express anger as a child because I was afraid it would lead to abandonment (kids believe the world revolves around them).
I also have felt the anger in my body and learning to let it go inside is a good thing to learn. Otherwise, the anxiety grips me. So I try to meditate or do EMDR to get rid of the anxiety, knowing that my body needs to be at peace.
Just recognizing this is huge.
Good luck,
antigua
poster:antigua3
thread:909231
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20090730/msgs/909263.html