Road rage is taking over the front page of the news with drivers acting aggressively and taking matters into their own hands. Road rage can lead to altercations, assaults and collisions that result in serious physical injuries or even death. One has to wonder what would provoke an individual to take such drastic measures to harm another person or go to extreme lengths to take the life of another person. What goes on in the mind of a person who experiences “road rage.” Allow us to take you deeper as we go behind scenes and uncover the underlying social/emotional issues of a “road rage.”
Anger is a normal adaptive emotion that one will encounter from time to time and not necessarily problematic. So the question is, What is anger? How is it manifested? When does anger become problematic? Anger is the indicator that a particular need is not being met in the moment. What we do with that reaction is what counts.
We can gain an understanding of how certain family dynamics can impact anger and aggressive behavior. How lacking specific social needs can impact ones emotions. How impact anger can be towards thinking and behavior. In my published book “When Nobody’s Home” I discuss how childhood trauma can cause uncontrollable anger as an adult. It is important that we realize this.
In the developmental process the first 4 to 6 years is when we are most dependent, receptive, and malleable which will impact the rest of our lives. At each stage we want a healthy outcome. Unfortunately, if something goes sideways with the way we are nurtured, we instinctively find a way to compensate for what is lacking, in order to survive. It is here we develop maladaptive ways of coping with the endeavor at hand. We are all wounded, to some extent, at every stage of development. But there is one state in which we really got “stuck.” This may have to do with our inherent temperament and who we responded to a particular problem or how our caretakers handled a particular stage. Whatever the stage, the major task is left uncompleted, or improperly completed, this state will have followed us through life and will turn out to be the core issue around which our current problems turn. Unless some later life experience can break the maladaptive pattern (positive reinforcement) those primitive old-brain adaptations will still be with us. This accumulation of coping mechanisms have a “snowball” effect. I thought about blogging on this due to the fact that almost every day on the news you hear about death due to Road Rage.
Here is what was on the new this morning.
Take a look at this article. Why must we live in fear?
Knocking motorcyclist off the road
