The LA fires destroyed homes, community spaces, and landmarks—uprooting many lives. With reconstruction still ongoing, many people remain homeless and displaced. These uncertain and disorienting experiences can trigger strong, often disproportionate anger. As disaster relief workers, you’re often supporting individuals in deep emotional distress. In doing so, your own anger may go unrecognized or unaddressed. Suppressing these feelings can lead to negative thoughts, physical symptoms, and behaviors that impact your relationships, work, and well-being. Recognizing the cycle of anger is the first step in developing healthier, more restorative responses.
Phase 1: Triggering Event
This is the initial situation or event that activates the anger cycle. This may look like getting cut off while driving, receiving critical feedback at work, finding a mess your roommate left in the kitchen.
Breaking the Cycle: Assess the situation by asking yourself “is this event worth a strong reaction?” and “What’s really bothering me?” This can help put things in perspective.
Phase 2: Negative Thoughts
After a triggering event, you might interpret it in a negative or irrational way. Example of this may look like, “That $@#! only cares about himself,” “They think I can’t do my job? I’ll show them!,” or “Can’t they clean up after themselves?!”
Breaking the Cycle: Try identifying these thoughts as they arise—mentally note them or write them down. This builds awareness and gives you the chance to challenge or reframe them.
Phase 3: Body’s Automatic Response
Your body reacts to the situation with various physical sensations and emotions. Emotional responses may include feeling angry, irritated, offended, or hurt. Physical sensations may involve sweating, increased heart rate, tensing of neck, rise in body temperature.
Breaking the Cycle: Use these signals as warning signs. They’re cues to pause and reflect before reacting.
Phase 4: Behavioral Response
The combined effects of the phases above can influence your response to the situation. Aggressive responses, such as criticizing, yelling, fighting, ruminating, and shutting down, can often create new triggers leading to the anger cycle to repeat itself (e.g., raising your voice leads to an argument).
Breaking the Cycle: Use coping strategies like deep breathing, or simply walking away. Regulating your emotions before responding helps reduce the chance of escalation.
The cycle of anger often begins with a triggering event, which can lead to negative thoughts, physical and emotional reactions, and unhelpful behaviors. For disaster relief workers, unaddressed anger can impact well-being and effectiveness. By recognizing triggers, challenging irrational thoughts, noticing bodily cues, and using coping strategies like deep breathing or stepping away, individuals can break the cycle and respond in healthier, more constructive ways.