Anger is part of our instinct to fight off threats, to compete for resources and to enforce social norms.
In the old world, when a snake jumped out of the undergrowth and attacked us, the primitive parts of our brains fired up and flooded our systems with stress hormones like cortisol, adrenaline and testosterone, which motivate powerful physical action. Without anger, our ancestors wouldn’t have lasted long. A slow response wasn’t an option.
The amygdala is a small almond-shaped part of our brain that scientists believe senses danger, triggers anger and motivates action. It’s sometimes referred to as the lizard brain – an ancient part of our mind that has been with us since we parted ways with reptiles and all the way back to when we were fish.
Meanwhile, the prefrontal cortex is the area that exerts control over our actions, through employing reason and judgement when alerted to danger. One part fires us up automatically and the other attempts to control that response.
Anger causes all kinds of problems for
