How to Use Faith to Support Your Anger Management Program
In my work, I've met many people who are incredibly angry because they suffer from some type of chronic-pain disorder (for example, a back injury). Believe me, I know they have a lot to be angry about — medical treatments that haven't worked, unsympathetic employers and insurance companies, loss of income and status. What impresses me, though, is the intensity of their anger and how long they hang on to it. Someone suffering from chronic pain isn't just irritated about his life and health situation, he's extremely angry — to the point of rage. And he stays that way day after day, year after year, which only heightens his pain and leads to secondary psychological problems, such as depression. Many chronic-pain sufferers are caught up in a vicious cycle — the more they hurt, the angrier they get, and the angrier they get, the more they hurt.
Another thing that typifies this group is their loss of faith — in their employers, insurance companies, physicians, family members, friends, even in themselves. And more than a few lose faith in God, because they believe God has abandoned them. For chronic-pain sufferers, anger seems to be their weapon of choice. As they see it, anger is the only way they have to fight back against pain and injustice.
But faith can be a weapon, too — and just as powerful as anger. Faith can be an antidote to fear, isolation, and depression. Faith can be comforting. And as long as you have faith in some higher power (no matter how you conceive of that power), you're never truly alone.
No one can make you have faith. It isn't something that you earn. Believing in something you can't prove and over which you have no control is simply a personal choice. For example, you need a lot of faith to believe that an angry, defiant teenager will actually grow up and amount to something in life. You need a lot of faith to work your way through some unexpected crisis in your life — a loving spouse who is suddenly diagnosed with cancer, a major hurricane that destroys everything you've worked hard for over your lifetime, the loss of a child to a drunk driver. Faith is a way of telling yourself that things will get better even when all objective evidence points to the contrary. Having faith is what keeps you from despair — and despair can be a breeding ground for anger.
Another thing that typifies this group is their loss of faith — in their employers, insurance companies, physicians, family members, friends, even in themselves. And more than a few lose faith in God, because they believe God has abandoned them. For chronic-pain sufferers, anger seems to be their weapon of choice. As they see it, anger is the only way they have to fight back against pain and injustice.
But faith can be a weapon, too — and just as powerful as anger. Faith can be an antidote to fear, isolation, and depression. Faith can be comforting. And as long as you have faith in some higher power (no matter how you conceive of that power), you're never truly alone.
No one can make you have faith. It isn't something that you earn. Believing in something you can't prove and over which you have no control is simply a personal choice. For example, you need a lot of faith to believe that an angry, defiant teenager will actually grow up and amount to something in life. You need a lot of faith to work your way through some unexpected crisis in your life — a loving spouse who is suddenly diagnosed with cancer, a major hurricane that destroys everything you've worked hard for over your lifetime, the loss of a child to a drunk driver. Faith is a way of telling yourself that things will get better even when all objective evidence points to the contrary. Having faith is what keeps you from despair — and despair can be a breeding ground for anger.
