Anger Illness And Better News
Psychiatrists these days are complete dumbasses.
First there was "Road Rage" as a pathological condition. Now, to explain why some parents yell at their children every day (as opposed to isolated events), we have "Anger Illness".
According to doctors who push this notion of Anger Illness, it can be caused by several different factors: insomnia, external loci of control, poor dietery habits, sudden changes in lifestyle, etc etc. The common symptom shared by all people suffering from Anger Illness is an inability to control their anger. They become angry at the slightest provocation, especially with their children.
Newsflash: People have been having issues with THAT since, like, parenting was invented.
This may come as information to family experts, but children are a handfull. Any parent, no matter how sterling they appear, is at the breaking point everytime his/her child tests his/her patience. Tempers boil and pulses race at any little thing--the child won't sit still where the child is told to, the child won't eat what is on the table, the child won't do chores, the child keeps up undesirable behavior, or what have you. At some point, any parent passes the breaking point and gets quite angry with the child.
Anger Illness is, allegedly, when EVERY instance leads to an angry response. "Sit over there." Child doesn't move. "I said SIT over THERE, NOW." Child doesn't move. Parent starts screaming.
Obviously this is a serious mental condition that requires hours of therapy to overcome and isn't merely indicative of somebody with poor anger management issues, self-control, or under external factors.
For instance, if a mother is habitually getting five or six hours of sleep per night and constantly screaming at her kids, Mr Family Expert will happily diagnose Anger Illness, with a cause of insomnia. I'd like to give another newsflash to the psychiatric world: not getting enough sleep makes you cranky. This is not an "illness." This is somebody who does not know how to deal with her crankiness.
A man gets home from work every day, utterly exhausted. His child wants to play, but he's just too tired. He smiles, says "I'm too tired. Maybe some other time, though." The child persists. The man gets agitated and says "LOOK, I said not right now." Clearly, this is Anger Illness and not simply a guy who has had a long day and has his nerves on end and loses his patience with his child.
Common responses from parents with "Anger Illness" are along the lines of "...and afterwards, I feel horrible." Well, yeah. And afterwards, I'll bet they apologize and think to themselves or promise vocally that they'll try to keep a better reign on their impatience and anger in the future. Maybe they try, maybe they don't; maybe they succeed for a time, maybe they don't.
We've all been there, people. Does that mean we're all mentally unstable? Are we all cursed with "Anger Illness" at some point in our lives?
I hate to say it, but the days of "Better Living" and "Self Help" books are actually preferable to this neverending tripe. At least a self help book would flat out say "If you're getting angry at your kids often, then look at your own situation. Are you tired? Get more sleep. Cranky after work? Explain to them that when you've just gotten home, you need twenty minutes or so to unwind before you can play. We all get snappy when we are tired or exhausted or have just had a bad day, but it is important not to let our impatience hamper our interpersonal relationships, especially with our own children." or something vaguely similar.
Anger Illness. My laugh for the day is directed at thee.
Better News:
Lainey was here in May. That was pure awesome. I dunno how long it's been since I've updated, so I dunno if you caught that. She's going to be here again in December for the holidays--quite happy about that. She arrives on the 15th and is here till the 4th or 5th, so we'll get to spend Christmas, New Year's, and our anniversary (of sorts) together. It's going to be good times, yo. Good times.
We'll see if I get Christmas off work. Ha, that'll be the day. Maybe I can make a deal with them to work Thanksgiving and have Christmas off. We'll see how that goes.
And now, away!
First there was "Road Rage" as a pathological condition. Now, to explain why some parents yell at their children every day (as opposed to isolated events), we have "Anger Illness".
According to doctors who push this notion of Anger Illness, it can be caused by several different factors: insomnia, external loci of control, poor dietery habits, sudden changes in lifestyle, etc etc. The common symptom shared by all people suffering from Anger Illness is an inability to control their anger. They become angry at the slightest provocation, especially with their children.
Newsflash: People have been having issues with THAT since, like, parenting was invented.
This may come as information to family experts, but children are a handfull. Any parent, no matter how sterling they appear, is at the breaking point everytime his/her child tests his/her patience. Tempers boil and pulses race at any little thing--the child won't sit still where the child is told to, the child won't eat what is on the table, the child won't do chores, the child keeps up undesirable behavior, or what have you. At some point, any parent passes the breaking point and gets quite angry with the child.
Anger Illness is, allegedly, when EVERY instance leads to an angry response. "Sit over there." Child doesn't move. "I said SIT over THERE, NOW." Child doesn't move. Parent starts screaming.
Obviously this is a serious mental condition that requires hours of therapy to overcome and isn't merely indicative of somebody with poor anger management issues, self-control, or under external factors.
For instance, if a mother is habitually getting five or six hours of sleep per night and constantly screaming at her kids, Mr Family Expert will happily diagnose Anger Illness, with a cause of insomnia. I'd like to give another newsflash to the psychiatric world: not getting enough sleep makes you cranky. This is not an "illness." This is somebody who does not know how to deal with her crankiness.
A man gets home from work every day, utterly exhausted. His child wants to play, but he's just too tired. He smiles, says "I'm too tired. Maybe some other time, though." The child persists. The man gets agitated and says "LOOK, I said not right now." Clearly, this is Anger Illness and not simply a guy who has had a long day and has his nerves on end and loses his patience with his child.
Common responses from parents with "Anger Illness" are along the lines of "...and afterwards, I feel horrible." Well, yeah. And afterwards, I'll bet they apologize and think to themselves or promise vocally that they'll try to keep a better reign on their impatience and anger in the future. Maybe they try, maybe they don't; maybe they succeed for a time, maybe they don't.
We've all been there, people. Does that mean we're all mentally unstable? Are we all cursed with "Anger Illness" at some point in our lives?
I hate to say it, but the days of "Better Living" and "Self Help" books are actually preferable to this neverending tripe. At least a self help book would flat out say "If you're getting angry at your kids often, then look at your own situation. Are you tired? Get more sleep. Cranky after work? Explain to them that when you've just gotten home, you need twenty minutes or so to unwind before you can play. We all get snappy when we are tired or exhausted or have just had a bad day, but it is important not to let our impatience hamper our interpersonal relationships, especially with our own children." or something vaguely similar.
Anger Illness. My laugh for the day is directed at thee.
Better News:
Lainey was here in May. That was pure awesome. I dunno how long it's been since I've updated, so I dunno if you caught that. She's going to be here again in December for the holidays--quite happy about that. She arrives on the 15th and is here till the 4th or 5th, so we'll get to spend Christmas, New Year's, and our anniversary (of sorts) together. It's going to be good times, yo. Good times.
We'll see if I get Christmas off work. Ha, that'll be the day. Maybe I can make a deal with them to work Thanksgiving and have Christmas off. We'll see how that goes.
And now, away!