Is Anger Ever Beneficial?

306 Words2 Pages
Is Anger Ever Beneficial? While anger may be seen as a catalyst that galvanizes one into action, it is actually never beneficial. Anger limits one’s ability to think and reason rationally and hence any action taken in and as a result of anger may not be the most rational that the one acting would take under normal circumstances. In anger, one’s ability to assess the possible consequences of one’s actions is also severely compromised. As such, one’s actions in anger may trigger a chain of events with far reaching effects sometimes with disastrous results. Historically, many disasters including wars have occurred as a result of one’s anger against a person or a people. Anger can also be absurd and make a person commit actions that bring into question their reasoning. In a one case (Kenyatta, 1938) in the pre-colonial Africa, a whole community was wiped out by a king of a neighboring community. The reason? The king was angry with the community for their apparent inability to mention his name properly (p38). Prolonged anger is known to bear health risks to the bearer. A person who harbors anger and bitterness has a considerably high chance of suffering from psychological disorders as well as a cardiac system malfunction. These may pose a serious to their life (Gordon &Sothern, 2003, p. 114). Anger is also known to limit one’s social relationships. An angry person tends to be either withdrawn or extremely aggressive thus making them be avoided by many people. This tends to make them lonely and bitter. The little good that may result from anger can never measure up to the harm that anger causes. It is therefore clear that anger is never beneficial. Reference Kenyatta, J. (1938). Facing Mount Kenya, Nairobi. Gordon, T.M. &Sothern, L.C., (2003).The lives we live today,
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