Getting angry about small things

The house being a mess, the traffic jam, the toothpaste without a cap, an innocent comment that falls the wrong way, all kinds of small irritations can cause you to get angry. Getting angry about little things is something that can indicate all kinds of problems. In this blog, we will explore possible causes of why you get angry about small things and whether hypnosis can then help you resolve those causes.

Stress and overload

Your work and relationships can be stressful. If stress lasts only a short time, it’s often no big deal. But what if you’ve been working or living in a stressful environment for months or even years? That can lead to burnout.

A small problem, such as the question "what are we going to have for dinner tonight?" can suddenly be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

American research shows that 1 in 4 employees in an office setting suffers from chronic anger, which can cause them to lose their temper over minor issues.

Now researchers indicated that for men, but not women, having posters can do a lot to reduce stress at work.

Of course, this is great fun for half the people in the office, but it does not yet offer a solution for women.

So what can you do? If a woman or man with this problem sees a hypnotherapist and it’s caused by stress, it’s good to know that a combination of mindfulness and hypnotherapy helps reduce stress and prevent outbursts[1]. Or at least to prevent someone from actually losing their temper because of that emotion.

The study found that eight sessions and a daily audio recording for self-hypnosis and greater mindfulness helped reduce stress.

Insomnia

Insomnia is incredibly annoying because you just can't get a decent recharge. The next day you just have to get back at it anyway, but that's pretty hard to do when you've slept badly.

Research also shows that sleep deprivation can cause you to suffer from anxiety and anger even with minor stress. What is interesting is that in situations of high stress it again does not matter whether you suffer from sleep deprivation or not how much stress you then experience[2].

So insomnia can certainly cause you to get angry over little things in particular.

Another study again shows that people can experience changes in how irritable they are after only 2 nights of poor sleep as a result, and then their personal characteristics are not what they normally are[3].

So if you have been sleeping poorly for a while and it is possible for you not to set the alarm clock, do so.

In addition, a hypnotherapist can help people with insomnia. As with getting angry about little things, insomnia can also have a variety of reasons.

People can also be helped for insomnia with hypnotherapy. Researchers indicate that results from small pilot studies are promising[4].

For example , a hypnotherapist can help anchor feelings of sleep from times when a person was still sleeping well. That way, sleep can be induced more easily. In addition, beliefs about sleep can be examined to see if there’s room for improvement.

It can also cause a person to fall asleep faster, than normal[5].

Depression and anxiety

Just over half of people with depression may suffer from anger and getting angry about small things. So it is certainly not a symptom that applies to everyone with depressive symptoms, but it can be a symptom[6].

If you do have it, it is often a signal of long-term and complicated depression. Children and adolescents with depressive symptoms can be especially affected.

There is also evidence that men in particular suffer from these types of symptoms when they are depressed[7].

Generally, depression is treated with cognitive behavioral therapy. This can be combined with hypnosis, and research shows that this combination works most strongly against depressive symptoms[8].

Unresolved personal problems

You may have all kinds of unresolved issues. For example, you’ve been keeping a certain problem to yourself for a long time—something you really need to talk about. You may have a long-standing conflict that keeps getting pushed aside without ever being resolved. Or you may have experienced something traumatic that you simply “push aside” and don’t process so that it no longer bothers you. This can lead to irritation and anger over small things.

For example, research on women who get angry at their partners shows that unresolved childhood trauma can play a role in this. This can include physical abuse, sexual abuse, feeling that your parents or caregivers did not protect you, and witnessing domestic violence.

The idea that she herself or a loved one is threatened can then be a trigger to become angry[9]. What this idea may trigger then depends on the associations the woman makes to what may lead to such a threatening situation. This can feel like getting angry about nothing, for the person doing "nothing" wrong.

In hypnotherapy, we often use regression and a dialogue with the inner child to identify and process traumas or unresolved issues from childhood.

Research also shows that hypnosis, when combined with proven techniques for treating PTSD , is more effective in helping people process trauma than the proven techniques alone. Those techniques included mindfulness, acceptance therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy[10].

A case study also describes how hypnotherapy helped a woman who was suffering from trauma caused by childhood abuse. The hypnotherapy helped her manage her emotions, strengthen her ego, and come to terms with the abuse. Her ego was strengthened primarily by transforming her negative self-schema. The memories of the abuse were processed safely through hypnosis. This helped her experience significantly less distress from her personal problems[11].

Medical condition

There are also a number of physical conditions that can cause you to get angry over nothing. Think, for example, of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), thyroid disorders, neurological disorders, or if you have chronic pain for one reason or another.

For example, research shows that women who suffer from a severe form of PMS benefit from hypnosis. This can help them suffer less from the symptoms and it helps them with their self-confidence and mental health issues due to the condition[12], which can also help them become less angry about small things.

Hypnosis is also frequently used to alleviate symptoms and mental distress associated with other conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome.

This is often done with visualizations and other clever suggestions that are customized for each client.

Communication Problems

Communication is very important for maintaining healthy relationships. Being able to communicate well ensures that you quickly notice or express your frustrations and that you can address them before you actually get angry over small things.

In addition, being able to communicate well helps you show or report that you have a problem with something before you get really angry. Then you don't get angry about little things, but you can just notice those little things to solve.

Hypnosis can help you figure out what is currently blocking you from communicating what needs to be said, so you don't end up angry about something, which really wasn't necessary.

Often, regression is then used to look at the first moment when a person didn't do something, which is now causing the problem. Next, the belief that caused this is examined, and then that belief is repaired so that you are no longer impeded in your communication[13].

That way, you can voice problems before you get angry at the drop in the bucket.

Learn hypnosis to help yourself and others

As you can see, you can get angry about something small for many reasons. Sometimes you just need a little more sleep, and sometimes there is much more going on. In almost all cases, hypnosis can play a role. Hypnotherapy can be the way to solve the problem, or just a supporting role in the (medical) solution to the problem.

Do you want to help yourself and/or especially others? Then knowledge of hypnosis can do a lot for you.

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