A Trick to Dealing with Angry Feelings

A study found writing about your feelings can help.

Here’s an easy anger management hack. A study found writing about your feelings can help. But, writing about them and then shredding the paper works even better. Researchers had students submit their opinions on different things, including social issues. For example, should smoking in public be allowed? They were told experts would evaluate their opinions and get back to them. But, they all just got the same response designed to make them angry. It said, “I cannot believe an educated person would think like this. I hope this person learns something while at the University.” They were then asked to write about how it made them feel. Some were asked to hang onto the paper, while others were told to toss or shred it. They also had to rate how angry they felt before and after they did. The study found just writing about their feelings did help a little. But, shredding the paper made a much bigger difference.